Is Floyd Mayweather coming to the UFC? Dana White says 'anything is possible'
- Published
Just when you thought the whole Mayweather v McGregor thing was done, brace yourselves, it could be about to start all over again.
When the rumour mill started up suggesting UFC superstar and lightweight world champion Conor McGregor would fight all-time boxing great Floyd Mayweather inside the boxing ring, few thought it was possible. Yet on 26 August in Las Vegas, the fight happened.
Now the rumours have started up again, but this time they’re linking Mayweather with a fight - or fights - in the UFC.
During a live Instagram stream, Mayweather declared he could return to fighting, and even floated the possibility of jumping into the highest level of mixed martial arts - the UFC.
“They just called me not too long ago and asked me to come back,” he said.
“I can come right back. If I want to I can come right back to the UFC. I can go and fight in the octagon.
“I can go and do a three or four-fight deal in the octagon and make a billion dollars. Remember, I’m Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.”
Floyd Mayweather and Dana White
Mayweather’s utterings could have been disregarded as social media talk from a retired fighter looking to keep the hype train rolling. But then things took a significant turn when UFC president Dana White sensationally confirmed he was in discussions with Mayweather about signing him to the UFC.
Speaking to ESPN’s MMA reporter Brett Okamoto, White confirmed that there was some real substance behind Mayweather’s words.
"We're talking to Floyd about doing a UFC deal," he confirmed.
"It's real. He was talking about fighting Conor McGregor (in a boxing match). Was that real? Have you heard Floyd talk about many things that aren't real?
“He usually tips his hand when he's in the media, and then that ends up happening.”
Mayweather and McGregor met in the boxing ring earlier this summer, with McGregor putting up a decent showing in the early rounds before Mayweather took over to eventually score a standing TKO victory over the UFC lightweight champion in the 10th round of their contest in Las Vegas.
White has been very complimentary about Mayweather and his management, including Al Haymon and Leonard Ellerbe, saying the fact they were so easy to deal with was a major factor behind striking the deal behind the Mayweather v McGregor superfight in the summer.
"There was no way I thought that fight was going to happen, but when you sit down with a smart guy like Al Haymon, a very intelligent guy, anything is possible," he explained.
"And Floyd, as much as he does the ‘Money’ thing and this and that, Floyd was actually very easy to work with. I was impressed."
If White’s discussions with ‘The Money Team’ go as well as they did ahead of that boxing match, there’s a possibility we could see Mayweather and McGregor trade leather again, but this time wearing four-ounce UFC gloves and fighting under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, rather than boxing’s Marquess of Queensberry Rules.
And with Mayweather’s challenges inside the boxing ring seemingly now a distant memory, the UFC president clearly believes there’s a chance he could thrash out an agreement to pitch ‘Money’ Mayweather into the octagon, suggesting that there was a “realistic possibility” that a deal could be struck.
"We're interested in doing something with Floyd,” he stated.
“Everything is a realistic possibility. Mayweather v McGregor happened. Anything is possible.”
Could 2018 be the year of #MayMac2? Watch this space...
MORE MMA:
Are you tough enough to take our UFC quiz of the year?
