Floyd “Money” Mayweather jumping into MMA would, naturally, be huge money for everyone involved.
Even with a transition still in a hypothetical stage, people across the sport are looking to get a slice of the action. One person jumping into the thick of it is UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, and if anyone thinks that he’s resistant to an outsider crossing over into his turf, well, think again. He wants to join The Money Team.
Speaking during his regular TMZ Sports segment, Hollywood Beatdown, Woodley discussed his previous interactions with Mayweather, and how he’s already working with boxing’s pay-per-view king.
“I saw him at the Jordan party during (NBA) All-Star weekend,” he said (h/t MMAFighting.com for the transcription). “We started chatting about training MMA and we decided let’s connect, let’s hook up in Vegas and do some training and get him ready for MMA.”
Rumors of Mayweather transitioning to MMA have been swirling since December, kicked off by UFC President Dana White, who teased the possibility of Mayweather competing in the Octagon. While Mayweather initially denied those rumors, a series of social media posts by Money reignited the discussion.
Outside of a short video showing Mayweather simply stepping into a cage, however, there has been no real information on any sort of MMA training. Woodley, however, was resoundingly positive on Mayweather, stating that he could have him ready to compete in “maybe two and a half months” and that he and The Money Team are “already getting it set up.” As for how well Mayweather could do on day one?
“Floyd Mayweather‘s one of the best strikers of all-time,” he said. “How many guys in the UFC that can’t wrestle and can’t grapple that consider themselves a standup fighter, but they have to stand across one of the greatest strikers ever, they gonna be in a world of smoke.”
Fans shouldn’t start booking flights to Las Vegas quite yet. Even if things are moving in a positive direction, a Mayweather MMA bout would still be a long way off.
Still, with this much smoke, it’s getting harder and harder to believe there isn’t a fire.
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