Floyd Mayweather reveals why he WON'T fight Conor McGregor in the UFC
FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR has claimed there's a strong chance he won't fight Conor McGregor in the UFC.
Floyd Mayweather has played down the prospect of fighting Conor McGregor in the UFC
Mayweather, 41, began hinting that he's interested in trying his hand at mixed martial arts in late January, to the shock of many.
And on Monday night, the Olympic bronze medalist claimed that he will begin training in the sport in the near future.
His revelation inevitably led to talk of a multi-million-pound rematch with McGregor, who he beat in a boxing match last August.
However, the American has seemingly poured cold water on fighting his most recent opponent inside the cage.
"It would be hard for me and Conor McGregor to fight because the weight class I want to fight is 145 (lbs)," he told Fight Hype.
"I can’t say how things will play out though.
"I’m a numbers man – if the numbers are right then we can make it happen."
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It would be hard for me and Conor McGregor to fight because the weight class I want to fight is 145
Mayweather believes he'll need around six to eight months worth of solid training before entering the UFC and would like to take his first MMA fight within the next 12 months.
“I started training already. Not the physical part but I’m running and going through the motions,” he said.
“I’ve thought about fighting in MMA. Right now it’s 50/50 but I’ve already started training and hopefully be fighting within a year.
Floyd Mayweather has claimed it would be hard for him to fight Conor McGregor in the UFC
“I really don’t know yet if I’m going to fight. Everything takes time.
“Before I get in the Octagon though I’ve got to be well rounded. I’ll be working with the wrestling guys and I’m going to be working with guys in the jiu-jitsu world.
“Fighting is nothing new for me. Fighting barefoot is new but fighting is nothing new.”
Conor McGregor
McGregor, 29, hasn’t set foot inside the Octagon since claiming the lightweight title in the main event of UFC 205, a card which saw him become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two titles simultaneously.
UFC president Dana White is hopeful of having the Irishman return to the promotion by the end of the summer, recently telling the BBC: “Hopefully we’ll see him back in either August or September.
“Well we’ve got to see how things play out in that [lightweight] division. A lot of things are going to happen in the next several months in the 155-pound division.
“Coming up is going to be Tony Ferguson versus Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and the winner of that is who I would like to see Conor fight next.”