By Allan Fox: Conor McGregor says Floyd Mayweather Jr. has already spoken to him about the two of them fighting a rematch after their August 26 fight. McGregor, 28, says Mayweather spoke to him about taking him on in a rematch in the UFC under the rules of that fight. McGregor says he doesn’t believe Mayweather would agree to fight him in the UFC.
McGregor does think Mayweather is in a bad financial situation with him owning money to the IRS for his taxes. McGregor doesn’t think for a second that Mayweather is fighting him for the boxing and MMA fans like he says he is. He sees it as a case of the 40-year-old Mayweather in a tough spot and needing money to pay off his debts.
That might explain why Mayweather is already talking about a rematch. You can argue that Mayweather is wise enough to know that the fans won’t pay to see two fights in a row between him and McGregor inside a boxing ring, as the fight will very likely be a one-sided affair with Mayweather easily winning. With that said, the fans would be interested in seeing Mayweather fight McGregor again but in the UFC under MMA rules.
It would be a clever move on Mayweather’s part for him to do that, and really the only way that a second fight between him and McGregor would be marketable to the general public. Of course, if Mayweather lost to McGregor on August 26, that would be another way to get a second payday against the UFC star. Unfortunately, a lot of boxing fans would be very suspicious if Mayweather loses to McGregor.
I don’t know if those fans would be willing to pay to see a second fight between them under the rules of boxing. They might have doubts about the legitimacy of the first Mayweather-McGregor fight. It already looks like a money grab type fight. Mayweather losing the fight would strengthen the opinions from the fans that see this as just Mayweather trying to get a payday.
“He was trying to say MMA next, UFC next,” said McGregor to MMA Fighting. “’You’re talking [expletive] you won’t do,’” said McGregor in commenting on what he told Mayweather during their face off on Tuesday. “I didn’t have a speech. I just rolled up and just started talking [expletive]. They cut my MIC [microphone] as well. They can do what they want, but they can’t keep me from him in the ring on August 26th. They can do nothing to stop me,” said McGregor.
I think McGregor is underestimating the lengths that Mayweather is willing to go in order to get another 9-figure payday. If Mayweather has no other way of getting another $100 million payday, I think he would definitely fight McGregor in the MMA. What’s the worst that could happen? Mayweather loses a fight by a submission, and he walks away with $100 million.
Mayweather and McGregor could then fight each other in a rubber match in a mix of rules of both boxing and MMA. It could really go full circus in third fight if the of them are ready to get that outrageous in order to get another big payday. It would look bad, but then again, we’re already seeing a full circus fight with their August 26 fight. If the boxing and MMA fans are willing to keep seeing Mayweather and McGregor fight in the future after their August match, then that’s on them.
I definitely think Mayweather will go for a rematch with McGregor. Mayweather didn’t mention the rematch with McGregor just for kicks. Mayweather likely brought it up because he’s serious about wanting the fight. We don’t know how much money Mayweather needs for his taxes. If it only took him 2 years to blow through his entire fortune, how long will the money last that he makes from the McGregor fight on August 26? A rematch or even a third fight would give Mayweather a cushion to live well for another 2 years at least.
“I believe so,” said McGregor when asked if Mayweather is fighting for money to pay his taxes. “He says it’s for the fans. It ain’t. I disagree. I believe he has to take the fight. He’s in a dire financial situation. It doesn’t sound like a good position to be in,” said McGregor.
There is it. McGregor suspects Mayweather is coming back to fight him because he’s in “dire financial situation.” It would be nice if Mayweather was just fighting McGregor, 28, for the fans like he says, but it looks like a self-serving move on his part. Even if Mayweather didn’t need money to take care of his tax problems, he still picked out a fighter that will give him his biggest payday.
If it was just about the sport of boxing and wanting to impress his fans, Mayweather would be fighting someone from his own sport, someone like Gennady Golovkin, Keith Thurman or Errol Spence Jr. By fighting a UFC guy like McGregor, this reminds me of what Muhammad Ali did near his own boxing career in facing wrestler Antonio Inoki in June 1976. That was a horrible fight that ended in a 15 round draw. The boxing fans shouted that they wanted their money back after the fight ended. Inoki spent almost the entire fight on the canvas, lying on his back, kicking at Ali’s legs. The fans were furious at the lack of action and the outcome of the fight.
“You’re looking at the A-side,” said McGregor in saying he’s the main attraction in the Mayweather fight. “I’m just floating around, having a bit of fun.”
“I’m going to kill this man on August 26th, and then I’m going to roll and take over,” said McGregor. “I believe so,” said McGregor in commending on his prediction of him knocking out Mayweather in four rounds. “Just have the checks ready. I’m going to steamroll your boy and take over this whole game as well,” said McGregor.
McGregor needs to keep talking as much as possible if he wants to get the MMA and boxing fans to purchase his fight. It was supposed to be a Mayweather doing a lot of trash talking to sell the fight, but it looks like his serious trash talking days are well behind him now. Mayweather was relatively low key during Tuesday’s press conference compared to McGregor. If this fight is going to sell and break the all-time PPV numbers of the Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight in 2015, then it’s going to take a lot of trash talking from McGregor. I don’t know that Mayweather is going to do his part to sell the fight.
“We’re going to have a knock in the gym, and then he’s going to have to answer to what he’s saying,” said McGregor about his new sparring partner Paulie Malignaggi, who boasted in the past that he would beat McGregor in a boxing match.
It would be interesting to see the sparring sessions between McGregor and Malignaggi. I think it’ll be difficult for McGregor to land anything against Malignaggi, as he can be very defensive when he wants to be. A well-schooled fighter like Malignaggi would be a problem for McGregor, because he doesn’t know what he’s doing inside the ring.
“I’m still only 28. When Floyd was 28, he was nowhere near this level,” said McGregor in comparing his career at this point to where Mayweather’s career was when he was at the same age as him. “He was on Oscar’s undercard. He was not on no posters,” said McGregor.
What McGregor isn’t saying is that the fighters in the UFC have a very short shelf life. They don’t last very long like they do in boxing. The top fighters in boxing can last into their 40s if they’re good enough. In the UFC, they blaze out pretty quickly. For all we know, McGregor might be done within a year or so. UFC president Dana White has already said that he’s not sure if McGregor will keep fighting after this. He’s getting a big payday in the Mayweather fight, and that might finish him as a competitor. We’ll see though. If McGregor comes back in December to fight in the UFC, then maybe he has the mental discipline to continue to fight. It’s still doubtful that McGregor will be around the UFC much longer. He’s not likely to stick around the UFC into his 40s like we’re seeing with Mayweather in boxing.
“If it clears the [Manny] Pacquiao numbers, I’ll make $100 [million],” said McGregor.
So there it is. The Mayweather-McGregor fight will need to break the PPV record of 4.6 million for him to get $100 million. I don’t know if it’s going to break that record. I think it might reach 2 million buys. Even that number would seem to be very ambitious. I see this fight being purchased mainly by McGregor’s MMA fans rather than boxing fans, who see it as an event rather than real fight. Many of them view it as an exhibition type of match. They probably haven’t heard of the Ali vs. Inoki fight from 1976, but if they did, they’d like lump the Mayweather-McGregor fight in the same category.