Mayweather: ‘If McGregor is smart he’ll let me kick his ass’
Mayweather says McGregor should fight him and make tens of millions in a boxing match before the Irishman loses in the UFC.
The difference between me and him is this: He has to fight. If I was him and I was smart, before I lose again in the UFC I’d let Floyd Mayweather kick my ass for a lot of money. It makes business sense.
Mayweather also notes that McGregor is an employee:
There’s a difference between being an employee and an employer. If someone says ‘I want to fight Floyd Mayweather’, I can simply say ‘yes, let’s make it happen’. But when you’ve got a guy like Conor McGregor he has to talk to Dana White (the UFC president). Dana has to talk to Dana’s bosses. Conor’s not a shot caller. When they said ‘Why is Floyd Mayweather not fighting Manny Pacquiao?’, it was because Manny Pacquiao had a boss. I don’t have a boss. We could have easily made the fight happen years ago. Everything happens for a reason. The first time I was going to fight Manny Pacquiao I was guaranteed $50 million but I had patience. And when I had patience that fight became a $300 million fight. This guy said I’m a pussy, I’m scared, I’m a chicken. All 49 said the same thing and all the results were the same. So with that being said, if Conor McGregor really wants to fight me, we can make it happen. But is he blowing smoke up everybody’s ass? We need to know.
‘Your Next Conor’
Ferguson sends a message to McGregor.
Your Next Connor… @TheNotoriousMMA #DefendOrVacate • #UFC #UFC209
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) March 5, 2017
Cruz: Ferguson should fight McGregor next
After Nurmagomedov pulls out of his fight with Ferguson, Cruz says Ferguson should fight McGregor.
We got to sit and wait and see what the UFC decides. The UFC are master matchmakers…It kind of messed up this card pretty good, because a lot of people were looking forward to it. So give ’em time to think about it. But I would says, looking from the outside in. You gotta kinda give the shot to Ferguson..You can’t hold Ferguson back because Khabib’s hurt.
White on calls for money fights: ‘If you’re not Conor McGregor, shut up’
White calls out fighters who are asking him for ‘money fights’.
I’m getting tired of the term ‘money fights’. [Fighter’s say] ‘I want the money fights!’ What, are you all going to move down and fight Conor [McGregor]? Listen there’s no bones about it: Conor is the guy. Conor brings in big gates, big pay-per-view numbers and everything else. Shut up if you don’t. If you’re not him, shut up.
White: No replacement fighter, Ferguson cancelled
White says that, despite several offers, there will be no replacement fight after Nurmagomedov dropped out of his fight against Ferguson. White says he did talk with White says he did speak with Michael Johnson — the last fighter to beat Ferguson — but ultimately cancelled the fight altogether.
The latest is I’m on suicide watch right now…The problem is that we’re one day away from the fight. it’s very hard. I respect the fact that so many people want to take the fight, but we’ll see what happens.
Big Show: I’d ‘floss my teeth’ with McGregor
In an interview with Forbes, Big Show says he cannot see McGregor in wrestling.
Hell No! Who’s Conor McGregor gonna fight? I’ve dated women bigger than him. What does he weight 135, 145? He reminds me of that little dog that runs around yapping all the time with a cigar in his mouth. He’s a little dog that barks. He’s an amazing athlete in his weight class, but he starts talking trash to me, Big E Langston, Braun Strowman would floss his teeth with Conor McGregor. I love Conor, I love how he runs his yap, but that’s like me saying I’m going to dunk on Shaq. That’s completely insane. I’ve got a two-inch vertical, you know that.
Kavanagh ‘can’t imagine’ McGregor not fighting Ferguson-Nurmgomedov winner
Coach Kavanagh says he expects McGregor to fight the winner of the UFC 209 bout between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov.
I would love the challenge of it, for Conor to test himself in that area. I’ll be honest, right from the beginning I’ve been hearing ‘you can’t do this, you can’t do that’ … We’re kind of used to being told to what we can’t do, but we don’t pay too much attention to it, we just get on and make things happen. I’ve said it before, the Nate rematch interests me a lot because it’s one-one and how the styles match up. Almost on a par with that, not much difference, would be the winner of Khabib-Ferguson this weekend. I think Khabib does it, I think Khabib will be the winner, so I think Khabib will be the match-up out of that. I find it hard to imagine not seeing [McGregor back in MMA]. Even if and when the Mayweather fight was going to happen, and he got that out of the way. I know, like myself, I do believe his true love is free combat sports and there is no ‘free-er’ combat sport than mixed martial arts. I can’t imagine him not fighting the winner of [Khabib vs. Ferguson]. Now we gotta see what happens with the Mayweather talks and all that, but yeah, I do believe that will happen.
White: McGregor vs St-Pierre was ‘not even close’ to being booked by UFC
White says a St-Pierre-McGregor fight was never realistically discussed.
We were) not even close [to making a fight between McGregor and St-Pierre]. Georges said he could make 155 pounds. But let’s be honest here – everyone wants to take a shot at Michael Bisping. They think he’s beatable, and obviously Georges St-Pierre is no different. So he’s going to step up and try to take his 185-pound title.
Muhammad Ali’s ex-wife: ‘He’d be a McGregor fan’
Khalila Ali says her ex-husband would have supported McGregor.
Ali don’t like anybody dull, he likes everybody exciting. He’d be a Conor McGregor [fan]. Conor McGregor’s the guy.
De La Hoya: McGregor should fight amateurs first
De La Hoya says boxing will be a “joke” if McGregor takes on Mayweather without having warm-up fights.
It would be a joke, it would be an embarrassment for boxing, if an MMA fighter were to go into the ring. It would be a no-contest. It would be the same thing if a fighter went into the Octagon, it would be an embarrassment for MMA. If McGregor gets inside a boxing ring, he’ll get outclassed easy. McGregor has never fought a boxer, ever in his life. In all seriousness, he should start off by fighting an amateur boxer, win a few amateur fights, maybe go on to win the Golden Gloves or something, and then when you turn pro he should fight a four-rounder, [in] which maybe he’ll get beat. But he should get experience in boxing and then call out the best. You cannot be calling out a top fighter in boxing right off the bat.
Lobov: Mayweather won’t last six rounds against McGregor
Lobov, McGregor’s training partner, says Mayweather cannot beat McGregor.
Being honest, and I know I’m going to get a lot of hate from it, but I don’t see Mayweather making it past the sixth round. And if it was Pacquiao, I don’t see Pacquiao making it past two rounds. And look, I was the one that predicted the one minute against Aldo. There is an interview of me, I can’t find it now, but there is a video of me where Conor keeps talking about four minutes, saying around the four-minute mark he was going to stop Aldo, and me saying, ‘no, forget the four minutes. It doesn’t get out of the first minute,’ and sure enough it was. I’m sure I got a lot of hate for that too, but trust me I know something. I’ve sparred this man for a very long time and I’ve watched this game for a many, many years and I understand a thing or two. I certainly hope it will happen. I mean, we’re ready, we’re getting ready for that fight, make no mistake about it, Conor is ready to go, he’s a loaded weapon.
Diaz says he will fight McGregor-Mayweather winner
In an interview at at Virgil Hunter’s gym, in Oakland, Diaz says he will fight the winner of McGregor vs. Mayweather.
Yeah, so they said I was waiting for Conor McGregor but I wasn’t waiting for Conor McGregor. I already beat him twice, so I was just training and saying if I was gonna fight again anytime soon, it was gonna be a big deal fight….Now they’re talking all this McGregor-Mayweather stuff, I don’t know how real or fake it is, but it sounds like it could, who knows? Money talks. So all I know is I’m the only one with the credentials to fight both of those guys. They claim they’re the best in the world. Mayweather has been for years at boxing and McGregor, I just beat him twice and everybody forgets that. So, I got winner, straight up. I’m in the right place to be doing it with all the best boxers in the world.
Nurmagomedov: ‘I’m going to smash McGregor’
At his Q&A session ahead of UFC 209, Nurmagomedov criticises McGregor.
I don’t give a f-ck about Cono. I think about only belt. When I come to the UFC, I never thought about Conor ‘oh I want to fight with him, make money’ something like this. I think about only the belt. I think I beat Tony Ferguson, after Conor says he doesn’t want to defend his title because he never defends his title and I’ll fight with another tough contender…This chicken is no loyal guy. I know this. If you remember, the first time he fights in the UFC, after the fight he said ‘$50 G’s baby’ something like this, he asked to Dana please give me $50,000. He said give me $50,000. The UFC made him. If he never fought in the UFC, how he become like this? Now he has name, now he talk about he can fight without the UFC in boxing. For me this is disrespect to UFC. Now I think the UFC has to make plan. They have to put PR machine [behind me] This is true. UFC promote him all the time because the UFC has a very big PR machine. Now I think the UFC have to make plan. They have to promote me. Make fight like me versus him after I beat Tony Ferguson. I’m going to smash this guy. This is what I have to do for the UFC. This is how I see this situation. Because we have to make him humble.
Conlan: McGregor believes he’s going to beat Mayweather
Conlan talks about McGregor supporting him at his professional debut at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick’s Day.
Conor’s coming to the fight. Conor’s gonna walk me out and he’s going to carry the tricolour, which is our national flag. It’s a complete honour. I’ve known Conor for quite a while now. I got him the sparring partners he needed for Nate Diaz, for the rematch. Our friendship’s grown since then…We ran an event together in Belfast. I asked him in front of the whole crowd. He shook on it, gave me his word. He said, ‘It’ll be an honour’…He has serious talent, he’s a great fighter…You’ll have to see what happens when the fight is made with Mayweather, which I do believe will be made. I don’t doubt Conor at all in his ability, and he believes 100% in his ability. And I don’t think he believes he’s going in it for money, he believes he’s going to win. And you’ve got to respect that from anybody.
White: Nothing set on Mayweather, McGregor to fight in UFC next
White says negotiations with Mayweather are not progressing, and that McGregor will fight in UFC next.
I don’t know where we are with it. We are nowhere. Conor wouldn’t train with [Roach]. Conor’s got his own team and his own crew. I expect Conor’s next fight to be in the UFC in mixed martial arts and to be with the winner of Khabib and Ferguson…[Conor wants the Mayweather fight because it’s] gonna be millions of dollars. The guy’s gonna make anywhere between $30 and $40. [Khabib vs McGregor] is gonna be good. Two nasty guys, number one and number two in the world.
Mayweather: ‘Conor McGregor got power’
On his 40th birthday, Mayweather says he is ready and willing to accept the bout.
They keep throwing the Conor McGregor name out there. Conor McGregor, you know like I said before. I’m here, let’s make it happen…Every time Conor McGregor goes out there and compete and win, he do it standing up. When Conor McGregor did lose, he lost on the ground, he didn’t lose standing up. So he’s a hell of a fighter and he’s a very tough competitor, and he has the will to win. The UFC gloves is no different from boxing gloves, they’re just a little bit smaller, but if a guy got power, he got power and Conor McGregor got power…Let’s make the fight happen, let’s give the fans what they want to see. There’s only one fight out there that’s important. That’s Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
One of @FloydMayweather's birthday wishes? A possible matchup with @TheNotoriousMMA. pic.twitter.com/qRjHmUyBtY
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) February 25, 2017
Thompson: McGregor and Mayweather have reached agreement
Thompson, who is also managed by Audie Attar, confirms that McGregor and Mayweather have agreed terms.
Those guys are still making multi millions of dollars. I think that [$100 million] is what Mayweather originally wanted. But I know they kind of negotiated down. But yeah I think it is going to happen man – from the talk of it anyway. I mean, my manager is Conor McGregor’s manager, and it looks like the deal is almost done. It is getting closer and closer.
He also says that he thinks Mayweather will win.
Well you have a guy who trains mixed martial arts [Conor] – I am not really sure how long he has been training. And he is going up against [Mayweather] in what literally is a different sport, and [Mayweather] has been boxing since he was three years old…It is really comparable to putting Mayweather out there in a mixed martial arts fight. I mean how do you think that is going to go? I think Mayweather is going to dominate.
Conlan: McGregor not fighting Mayweather for money
Conlan talks about talking to McGregor about the Mayweather fight.
I was doing some strength and conditioning, and Conor was out here having talks with the (Floyd) Mayweather team about their possible fight. He came to LA to do some training. He ended up in the gym so it was good to catch up with him. I watched him do some training and he looked great. He looked in shape and he is confident the fight is going to be made. I think it will happen, and I am delighted for him. It is a massive fight, and I hope it happens. I won’t speak on who will win, or if Conor can pose Mayweather problems. I don’t want to get involved in that debate. But Conor believes 100 per cent in his ability, and he believes 100 per cent in himself. He isn’t doing it just for the money. He is doing it to win the fight. He can’t see himself losing. You can’t write someone off who 100 per cent believes in himself. When you have that belief, things happen…People will go crazy for it. But you see the people who complain about it, they will watch it. Boxing fans will watch it. MMA fans will watch it. Everyone will watch it, whether they agree with it or not. Simple as that. Every single person will watch this fight.
Glazer: McGregor and Mayweather should hook up on Tinder
Glazer says there will be trouble if Mayweather and McGregor meeting outside the ring while both fighters are in Los Angeles.
There’s a good chance [they will run into each other]. If I’m Floyd I only want to run into him in a boxing ring. I don’t want to run into him anywhere else…Although Floyd has a bunch of big dudes around him…I respect the hell out of Floyd as a fighter. He’s a great boxer. I’d love to see [McGregor] happen I’d like to see anything competitive. They can’t fight each other on Instagram, that doesn’t work. They should fight each other on Tinder.
Ferguson to McGregor: ‘Come back when you’re ready to be a man’
At a press conference for UFC 209, Ferguson says McGregor is trying to avoid him.
He’s trying to avoid me by going over to boxing. I honestly couldn’t care less. This is a man’s sport we play…I’ve been putting in my my work and my effort, and Khabib and me are going to have this war. Whatever Conor does, I gave him a pass. I don’t have to talk too much shit. He’s got a kid coming up. I told him, go spend some of that money, dude. Go do what you’ve got to do and earn that little thing that you’ve got, and then come back when you’re ready to be a man. I’m at 155. Once I’m done, I’ll move on and make sure whoever’s next is going to get it. But right now, the fight at hand is Khabib Nurmagomedov, and we’re here to do business.