Floyd Mayweather Jr. could potentially stand in the way of Conor McGregor becoming president of Ireland, or even the U.S.A, according to Andre Berto. For those not familiar with Berto, he is perhaps best known for being the last man to have fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. Berto lost a unanimous decision victory to “TBE” in […]
Floyd Mayweather Jr. could potentially stand in the way of Conor McGregor becoming president of Ireland, or even the U.S.A, according to Andre Berto. For those not familiar with Berto, he is perhaps best known for being the last man to have fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. Berto lost a unanimous decision victory to “TBE” in […]
UFC president Dana White has offered his opinion on a potential showdown between the company’s lightweight champion Conor McGregor and legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., insisting he believes the bout will happen.
Speculation has gathered pace in re…
UFC president Dana White has offered his opinion on a potential showdown between the company’s lightweight champion Conor McGregor and legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., insisting he believes the bout will happen.
Speculation has gathered pace in recent weeks that a fantasy fight between the two combat sports stars could come to fruition. White, speaking on Conan (h/t Brett Okamoto of ESPN) on Wednesday, outlined some potential complications, although he expressed his belief the deal will get over the line.
“I do think it’s going to happen,” the UFC chief said. “I think it’s going to be a tough deal, because, obviously, there are a lot of egos involved in this deal and a lot of people, so that always makes it tougher. [But] on the flip side, there’s so much money involved; I just don’t see how it doesn’t happen.”
As Okamoto noted, White has previously been coy on the idea of McGregor’s taking on Mayweather, insisting in January it would be an “epic fail” for the Irishman to take part without the UFC’s go-ahead.
MMA journalist Luke Thomas outlined his opinion as to why the UFC may have changed its stance:
Speaking at a promotional event in Liverpool, England, last week (h/t the Observer via the Guardian), Mayweather confirmed he was coming out of retirement to take on McGregor. “Simple and plain, let’s fight in June,” he said.
Further fuel was added to the fire when a report from Duane Finley of FloCombat stated the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas had been booked for June 10 for a potential meeting of the two men.
Indeed, what seemed to be a previously fantastical prospect is beginning to look increasingly feasible. In the same interview, White even offered his insight into how he felt this potential clash of styles and skills would go.
“McGregor is huge,” he said. “He’s in the prime of his career. Floyd is 40. Floyd has always had problems with southpaws; Conor is a southpaw, and Conor hits hard. When he hits people, they go. Floyd is definitely not knocking him out. That’s for sure.”
White didn’t pick McGregor to win specifically, although he suggested the scrap would at least be “interesting.”
Mayweather’s last professional bout came against Andre Berto in September 2015, after which he walked away from boxing with a perfect 49-fight record and his reputation secured as one of the best of all time.
McGregor was last in action at UFC 205 in November 2016, when he stopped Eddie Alvarez to be crowned lightweight champion. In winning the bout, he became the first fighter in UFC history to hold two titles at the same time, although he has since been stripped of the featherweight strap.
Although nothing has been officially confirmed just yet, it’s been widely assumed that reigning UFC featherweight champion the “Notorious” Conor McGregor will rematch Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout at July 9’s UFC 200. The two men infamously faced off at March 5’s UFC 196 with McGregor shockingly losing by way of submission in a
Although nothing has been officially confirmed just yet, it’s been widely assumed that reigning UFC featherweight champion the “Notorious” Conor McGregor will rematch Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout at July 9’s UFC 200.
The two men infamously faced off at March 5’s UFC 196 with McGregor shockingly losing by way of submission in a fight two whole weight classes above his usual home at 145-pounds.
While many have criticized the “Notorious” one in the aftermath of the bout, boxer Andre Berto, who has apparently become friends with McGregor, claims that the Irishman is all for the rematch:
“I talked to him actually like three days ago. He’s doing all right,” Berto told TMZ. “Of course, a lot of situations that he feels played a part on why he lost. I know him and he’s hungry to get back, and I think he wants to try to get his rematch in.”
But is that the right choice?
Berto feels as if McGregor should jump back down in weight, defend his title, and take a fight or two before a rematch with the Stockton Bad Boy occurs:
“I think he should probably take another fight or two first. I think he should go back down (in weight),” Berto explained. “Conor’s the type of guy, I think he’s a lot more effective when he’s disciplined. When he’s cutting weight, when he’s staying on his diet, things like that, it just does something to the mind of a fighter and I think he’s the type of fighter that responds to it.”
In fact, Berto feels as if the move up in weight produced a less focused “Notorious” one:
“When you give a guy like that, he already has tons of fame, tons of money and now he doesn’t have to make weight for a fight.”
Despite McGregor’s recent loss, however, the former champion feels as if the “Notorious” one will come back better than ever:
“I think he’s going to come back better,” Berto said. “I think it’s going to be a bigger situation when he comes back.”
If he does end up squaring off with Diaz again, what do you expect from McGregor in the rematch?
Berto (left) on his way to a unanimous decision victory over Luis Collazo
I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen this scenario play out before.
Earlier in the week, ES Boxing News caught up with two-time welterweight boxing champion Andre Berto, and spoke to the former champ about the possibility of seeing him fight MMA. The question isn’t exactly posed to Andre without merit – current Bellator fighter James Edson Berto is his brother and his sister, Revelina Berto, is trying out for the co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter – even though it quickly becomes obvious that Berto is only a (very) casual fan of the sport. As in, he admits that he doesn’t know anything about MMA weight classes and possibly has Jon Jones confused with Anderson Silva (A Jon Jones/GSP super fight?).
Despite this, Berto claims to have spoken to Dana White about competing in the UFC – an idea that White was in support of. According to Berto, White was very complimentary of his boxing career, saying that he is “one of the only guys in boxing that keeps it alive” when they spoke.
Berto (left) on his way to a unanimous decision victory over Luis Collazo
I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen this scenario play out before.
Earlier in the week, ES Boxing News caught up with two-time welterweight boxing champion Andre Berto, and spoke to the former champ about the possibility of seeing him fight MMA. The question isn’t exactly posed to Andre without merit – current Bellator fighter James Edson Berto is his brother and his sister, Revelina Berto, is trying out for the co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter – even though it quickly becomes obvious that Berto is only a (very) casual fan of the sport. As in, he admits that he doesn’t know anything about MMA weight classes and possibly has Jon Jones confused with Anderson Silva (A Jon Jones/GSP super fight?).
Despite this, Berto claims to have spoken to Dana White about competing in the UFC – an idea that White was in support of. According to Berto, White was very complimentary of his boxing career, saying that he is “one of the only guys in boxing that keeps it alive” when they spoke.
It wouldn’t be fair to compare Andre Berto to James Toney, a has-been who blatantly only wanted to compete in MMA for a quick paycheck. However, I think a comparison of his interest in MMA to Manny Pacquiao’s curiousity towards our sport isn’t too far of a stretch. Sure, it’d be fun to watch Berto step in the cage with a featherweight striker (Frankie Edgar and Leonard Garcia quickly come to mind), but there is absolutely no way that his management lets him accept an MMA fight while he’s still a relevant draw in the boxing world.
Besdies, Berto isn’t exaggerating when he says that he “definitely gets paid handsomely.” As BloodyElbow pointed out, he made $1,625,000 in his most recent fight – a unanimous decision loss to Robert Guerrero. Safe to say Dana White won’t be offering him that much money.
My personal favorite quote comes at the 4:38 mark, when Berto is asked who would win a fight between Cyborg Santos and Ronda Rousey. Berto takes a few seconds to think over the question, then replies “Cyborg’s like a dude! She’s a beast!” If you only watch one part of the interview, this is the part to watch.
So what do you think about the idea of Andre Berto competing in MMA? Would you be interested in seeing whether he could be competitive in this sport, or would he get lay-and-prayed into irrelevance? Or are we all just wasting our time discussing this, because he’ll never step foot in the cage? Let us know.
