When it comes agreeing on money, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather are far apart. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White recently offered both men $25 million to compete in a boxing ma…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGk1z1IdwXA
When it comes agreeing on money, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather are far apart. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White recently offered both men $25 million to compete in a boxing match. Mayweather laughed off the idea.
White responded to Mayweather’s brushoff (via TMZ Sports):
“We all know $25 million isn’t peanuts and so does he. He’s hanging his watch out the window, his watch is the problem. When you’re wearing a watch that’s $250,000, you’re gonna need 25 million real quick pal. And hey Floyd, taxes are coming up too buddy.”
Another issue White has with Mayweather is his self-perception. He doesn’t believe that Mayweather is valued more than “Notorious.”
“First of all, Floyd thinks he’s so much bigger than Conor, he’s wrong. Listen, Floyd’s gone undefeated for 20 years, I give him all the credit in the world for doing that, but Conor’s been around for three or four years. For him to think that he’s a much bigger star than Conor isn’t true. I’m not gonna pay him way more money than I’m gonna pay my guy.”
Mayweather claimed that he offered McGregor $15 million plus pay-per-view points to meet him in a boxing ring. White denies that claim and says there was only one legitimate offer.
“Floyd said that he made an offer … he never made an offer. It’s not true. I made an offer, okay. So if you’re serious, there’s a real offer. Where do we go from here Floyd?”
While McGregor and Mayweather keep entertaining a boxing fight, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will go toe-to-toe for the interim UFC lightweight title on March 4. The winner of that bout will likely meet McGregor in a unification bout later this year. “The Eagle” and “El Cucuy” will be featured as the co-main event of UFC 209 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
While the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweights will do battle for the interim title at UFC 209, the reigning champion is entertaining a boxing match. It’s no secret that future boxing Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather and 155-pound title holder Conor McGregor have piqued the interest of the sports world ten times over.
While pop culture is salivating over this feud, many boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) pundits are scratching their heads. On the boxing side, many would rather see Mayweather fight a high level boxer like Gennady Golovkin if he returns. On the MMA front, there is resistance because McGregor has yet to defend any UFC title he has won.
Former UFC welterweight Chris Lytle talked about the fantasy match-up with MMAWeekly.com. “Lights Out” believes McGregor’s desire to fight Mayweather isn’t unfounded:
“It makes complete sense for Conor McGregor to want to go fight Floyd Mayweather because Floyd doesn’t really knock anybody out. He’s not a hard puncher. He’ll out-jab you a few times and make you go the distance. So it’s a great fight for him. He’d probably make $50 million, maybe $100 million. I don’t know what he’d make, but he’d make a ton of money.”
Lytle also believes the fight benefits Mayweather, who prides himself on perfection.
“I think it’s a smart fight for Floyd because Floyd is all worried about his reputation and this would be a big match-up, a big main guy, and I think he feels like he definitely has the boxing advantage against him. I think it’s a very smart fight for both guys.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWUiMQlQ2jQ
While the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweights will do battle for the interim title at UFC 209, the reigning champion is entertaining a boxing match. It’s no secret that future boxing Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather and 155-pound title holder Conor McGregor have piqued the interest of the sports world ten times over.
While pop culture is salivating over this feud, many boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) pundits are scratching their heads. On the boxing side, many would rather see Mayweather fight a high level boxer like Gennady Golovkin if he returns. On the MMA front, there is resistance because McGregor has yet to defend any UFC title he has won.
Former UFC welterweight Chris Lytle talked about the fantasy match-up with MMAWeekly.com. “Lights Out” believes McGregor’s desire to fight Mayweather isn’t unfounded:
“It makes complete sense for Conor McGregor to want to go fight Floyd Mayweather because Floyd doesn’t really knock anybody out. He’s not a hard puncher. He’ll out-jab you a few times and make you go the distance. So it’s a great fight for him. He’d probably make $50 million, maybe $100 million. I don’t know what he’d make, but he’d make a ton of money.”
Lytle also believes the fight benefits Mayweather, who prides himself on perfection.
“I think it’s a smart fight for Floyd because Floyd is all worried about his reputation and this would be a big match-up, a big main guy, and I think he feels like he definitely has the boxing advantage against him. I think it’s a very smart fight for both guys.”
Reigning UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is one of the very best knockout artists in the sport, as his left hand has become a staple in his arsenal on his way to superstardom. Despite McGregor’s success thus far, he has received some criticism regarding his grappling skills. He was taken down repeatedly by Chad Mendes
Reigning UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is one of the very best knockout artists in the sport, as his left hand has become a staple in his arsenal on his way to superstardom. Despite McGregor’s success thus far, he has received some criticism regarding his grappling skills.
He was taken down repeatedly by Chad Mendes in July 2015, although he ended up scoring a second round knockout victory over “Money”, and he was submitted by Nate Diaz in March 2016, although he avenged that loss at UFC 202 this past August.
One former champion to recently comment on McGregor’s skill set is former longtime middleweight kingpin Anderson “The Spider” Silva, who said that the Irishman has ‘clear flaws’ in his game:
“He has flaws. We all have flaws. And his flaws are clear,” Silva told Combate News (Via MMAFighting.com). “He defends well, but he doesn’t have jiu-jitsu. The main thing is that he uses his movement and his opponent’s movement in his advantage.
“He never puts himself in uncomfortable positions. Everyone who fought him put themselves in uncomfortable positions and weren’t able to get back to comfortable positions again.”
Like McGregor, Silva is a lethal striker and perhaps one of the very best strikers in the history of the sport. “The Spider”, at times, has had issues dealing with wrestlers, however, although he does possess a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. While Silva always has a submission up his sleeve if needed, McGregor has rarely shown this side of his game.
If he continues to knock fighters out with his boxing though, McGregor’s submission skills likely won’t matter.
Speaking of his boxing skills, the “Notorious” one is often linked to a potential boxing match with retired former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather.
Silva believes this is a fight McGregor ‘should’ take:
“I think everybody has a chance,” Silva said. “When you step inside (the ring) to fight, you have a chance. Of course that if you’re fighting Mayweather, people would say ‘oh, McGregor won’t last a round,’ but we never know.”
“The movement is different, how you have your feet on the ground is different, the timing is different boxing,” he continued. “The only way to see is putting them to fight. He would have to stop at least a year to be able to do a close fight, and I believe he should do it.”
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor hasn’t competed since winning the 155-pound strap with a brutal second round TKO victory over Eddie Alvarez at this past November’s UFC 205 from New York. The Irishman is currently awaiting the birth of his first child, which could keep him on the sidelines for the foreseeable future. While McGregor’s
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor hasn’t competed since winning the 155-pound strap with a brutal second round TKO victory over Eddie Alvarez at this past November’s UFC 205 from New York. The Irishman is currently awaiting the birth of his first child, which could keep him on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.
While McGregor’s name is constantly linked to a potential boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in the media, a more likely return fight for him would be a title fight against the winner of March 4’s interim lightweight title fight between top contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.
Nurmagomedov and McGregor have seemed to stir up a bit of a rivalry in recent months, and many feel as if “The Eagle” would present problems for the “Notorious” one given his decorated wrestling background. McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis, however, feels as if Nurmagomedov is ‘too easily hit’:
“He’s too easily hit,” Danis told Submission Radio about Nurmagomedov. “If you saw in the Michael Johnson fight, he was getting like wobbled and rocked every time they were on the feet. So Conor is going to pick him apart like he does all the wrestlers.”
With that being said, the outspoken Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion feels as if McGregor would finish Nurmagomedov in ‘one or two rounds’ if the two were to eventually meet in the Octagon:
“He hits you from everywhere and he kicks you in the stomach,” Danis continued. “And people don’t see those shots on TV, like some of those teep kicks and some of the kicks to the stomach, but those take the wind out of you. And when you basically have to take someone down, it puts a different kind of feeling in your stomach ad in your gut when you have to take the guy down. The guy’s beating you up on the feet, and when you go to the ground he’s elbowing you. So I think Conor puts him away in probably one or two rounds with strikes.”
McGregor’s striking is clearly his bread and butter and he’s proven that it’s amongst the best in the sport today, but many have and likely will continue to question his grappling skills. Danis, however, isn’t worried about Nurmagomedov’s relentless takedown attempts:
“What happened to Eddie doing that though? That’s what people said that Eddie was gonna do that and then he couldn’t even come close to taking Conor down. Nate couldn’t come close to taking Conor down. They all think they’re going to do something until they get in there. I train with the guy every day when I’m out there in Ireland, so I know what he’s capable of, and that’s definitely not going to happen.”
McGregor’s fighting future is almost always unclear and Nurmagomedov will need to get by Ferguson in March, but would you like to see these two 155 pounders do battle later this year?
The UFC heavyweight’s tweet to Dana White provokes questions over the recent growth in the introduction of interim belts.
When all else fails, introduce an interim title to the mix. Not the words of the UFC top brass, although in the past couple of months we have seen the introduction of a secondary belt to the featherweight and lightweight divisions in times of promotional crisis, and the absence of a champion [McGregor].
The decision drew criticism from some, who felt that it was a weak effort on behalf of the promotion to make the PPV event worthwhile. Conor McGregor was simultaneously stripped of (or voluntarily relinquished) his 145 pound strap, with the winner of the Holloway/Pettis strap facing [new champion] Jose Aldo for the “real” title. From the promotions perspective, selling the fight as a title eliminator would not have held as much weight without a physical belt, given the UFC’s track record for reneging on title-shot promises.
While fans and associates of Conor McGregor were among the first to ridicule the introduction of the belt, McGregor himself was not averse to hoisting the interim gold over his head in his win over Chad Mendes at UFC 189. These belts arguably grant the victor with an elevation on their stock, but to many fans they are somewhat worthless in the grand scheme.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson was made official for UFC 209 this week, in a fight spiced up (once again) by an interim belt. McGregor is likely out of action until the end of the year, so the possibility of the winner between the Russian and the American having to defend (and possibly lose – confirmation, Dana?) the title of Interim Champion makes for even more confusion.
What makes this scenario unique, however, is that both guys are solidly in the #1 & #2 spots in the lightweight rankings, so the result should logically determine the challenger to the Irishman’s strap, right? Tyron Woodley v Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is a title fight on the ‘209 card, so it is not as though the UFC are in a similar position to the Holloway v Pettis situation.
UFC’s Ben Rothwell sent a cheeky tweet to UFC president Dana White on Friday, appearing to poke fun at the President for this recent rise in interim belts:
One may argue that the new owners of the world’s chief MMA promotion are responsible for the rise in secondary titles, and being a business with finance at the forefront of its operations, it is a valid argument. Conjecture of motives aside, the introduction of a litany of belts has led to a series of mismatches, and a ton of promotional disputes in boxing – let us hope that the UFC are not planning on adopting a similar model of throwing a belt into the mix in just any fight.
The UFC heavyweight’s tweet to Dana White provokes questions over the recent growth in the introduction of interim belts.
When all else fails, introduce an interim title to the mix. Not the words of the UFC top brass, although in the past couple of months we have seen the introduction of a secondary belt to the featherweight and lightweight divisions in times of promotional crisis, and the absence of a champion [McGregor].
The decision drew criticism from some, who felt that it was a weak effort on behalf of the promotion to make the PPV event worthwhile. Conor McGregor was simultaneously stripped of (or voluntarily relinquished) his 145 pound strap, with the winner of the Holloway/Pettis strap facing [new champion] Jose Aldo for the “real” title. From the promotions perspective, selling the fight as a title eliminator would not have held as much weight without a physical belt, given the UFC’s track record for reneging on title-shot promises.
While fans and associates of Conor McGregor were among the first to ridicule the introduction of the belt, McGregor himself was not averse to hoisting the interim gold over his head in his win over Chad Mendes at UFC 189. These belts arguably grant the victor with an elevation on their stock, but to many fans they are somewhat worthless in the grand scheme.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson was made official for UFC 209 this week, in a fight spiced up (once again) by an interim belt. McGregor is likely out of action until the end of the year, so the possibility of the winner between the Russian and the American having to defend (and possibly lose – confirmation, Dana?) the title of Interim Champion makes for even more confusion.
What makes this scenario unique, however, is that both guys are solidly in the #1 & #2 spots in the lightweight rankings, so the result should logically determine the challenger to the Irishman’s strap, right? Tyron Woodley v Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is a title fight on the ‘209 card, so it is not as though the UFC are in a similar position to the Holloway v Pettis situation.
UFC’s Ben Rothwell sent a cheeky tweet to UFC president Dana White on Friday, appearing to poke fun at the President for this recent rise in interim belts:
Dear @danawhite, there must be an interim title at stake between McGregor&Mayweather,otherwise I just don't find it interesting enough.Thanx
One may argue that the new owners of the world’s chief MMA promotion are responsible for the rise in secondary titles, and being a business with finance at the forefront of its operations, it is a valid argument. Conjecture of motives aside, the introduction of a litany of belts has led to a series of mismatches, and a ton of promotional disputes in boxing – let us hope that the UFC are not planning on adopting a similar model of throwing a belt into the mix in just any fight.
McGregor vs. Mayweather is getting attention again… After months of verbal sparring, the fabled Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather fight came to life yesterday. Far from being an official scrap, the long discussed showdown suddenly became legitimized, to an extent. Coming out of the blue, UFC president Dana White appeared on ‘The Herd’ with a
McGregor vs. Mayweather is getting attention again…
After months of verbal sparring, the fabled Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather fight came to life yesterday. Far from being an official scrap, the long discussed showdown suddenly became legitimized, to an extent. Coming out of the blue, UFC president Dana White appeared on ‘The Herd’ with a big announcement. White would offer McGregor and Mayweather $25 million each to square off, presumably in the UFC.
Although Mayweather reacted by claiming White was a ‘f*cking comedian,’ at least there was an olive branch in terms of negotiation. Since the start of all this chatter in late 2015, many boxing analysts have debated the topic. McGregor’s boxing, albeit brutal in MMA, would have to go to a whole new level against ‘Money.’ When discussing the Irishman’s chances, ‘GGG’ would not dismiss McGregor in the world of boxing.
Chances
Currently the undefeated WBC, WBA, IBF & IBO middleweight champ, Golovkin knows a thing or two about boxing. Here’s what the 36-0 knockout artist told TMZ:
“A little bit difficult for Conor McGregor, I respect him he’s a great UFC fighter. Boxing and UFC are two different things. Everybody has a chance, I think Conor he has a lot of chance.”
Will Mayweather Budge?
After hearing his thoughts on White’s $25 million offer, will Mayweather be willing to negotiate? Even though it sounds crazy, the UFC is clearly willing to make this fight happen. ‘The Notorious’ won the lightweight title against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, before being stripped of the featherweight strap during the UFC 206 circus. Attending to family matters, reports indicate the Irishman will be out for some months. With Ronda Rousey’s recent loss, the promotion is running short on marketable stars.
Are the UFC joining forces with McGregor and Mayweather just to keep people talking? Either way, it seems MayMac will be the topic of conversation for some time, again.
