UFC president Dana White says he’s discussing a deal that would bring undefeated boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. to the mixed martial arts promotion, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto is reporting.
“We’re talking to Floyd about doing a UFC deal,” White told ESPN. “It’s real. He was talking about [boxing] Conor McGregor. 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 [stuff] ends up happening.
“We’re interested in doing something with Floyd. Everything is a realistic possibility. Mayweather vs. McGregor [expletive] happened. Anything is possible.”
Mayweather is just coming off of fighting UFC lightweight champion McGregor in a highly publicized boxing match in August. Mayweather ended up winning via TKO to run his professional record to 50-0. The 40-year-old has said that it would be the final bout of his career.
And while that McGregor fight may just be his final boxing match, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be his final fight.
During a live Periscope stream earlier in December, Mayweather alluded to the fact that he’s open to stepping into the octagon – for the right price.
“They just called me not too long ago and asked me to come back,” said Mayweather in the live stream. “I can come right back. If I wanted to, I can come right back to the UFC. I can go fight in the octagon. I can do a three- or four-fight deal in the octagon and make a billion dollars. Remember, I’m Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.”
One billion seems like a farfetched number, but then again so did the reported $300 million he made from the McGregor fight – a fight that was never supposed to happen when talks first started, by the way – before he stepped foot into the ring.
The buzz that Mayweather and McGregor drummed up last time generated over $600 million in revenue and did 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, according to Showtime. White declared that the event did 6.7 million pay-per-view buys, globally.
The circus could be coming back to town.
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