It still seems like a bizarre fantasy, but the rumors and reports that Floyd Mayweather may be negotiating with the UFC for an MMA rules rematch with Conor McGregor just will not go away. They seem strangely credible too given how ludicrous of an idea the fight would be.
Let’s recap how we got here. First, the whole Mayweather versus McGregor cross-sport super fight happened in a boxing ring. No one thought that could possibly happen. Not only did it go down, but it was the second most lucrative fight in combat sports history in the United States and may have been the most profitable ever internationally. That means something.
Next, Floyd himself started talking about all the money he could make in a UFC contract. He dismissed the idea shortly after, but he did bring it up on his own. Then UFC president Dana White got in on the rumor mill by flat out saying that he is “talking to Floyd about doing a UFC deal.” It should be noted that Dana has been on record with talking about how professional and easy working with Mayweather and his team were for the McGregor fight. Given that and all the money at stake, of course he’d want to try and bring Floyd in.
Since then Mayweather has recently pictures and short videos of himself in the Octagon. Showtime would likely be involved due to their contract and history with Mayweather if this were to happen and its Sports head Stephen Espinoza has gotten in on pumping up the rumor mill as well. A couple days ago he tweeted a picture of himself next to Floyd signing a contract with the caption “You sleep. We don’t.” He even went as far as hashtagging it “#MayweatherMMA.”
I really think this is something strongly being considered. MMA journalist Gareth A Davies is reporting it is under negotiations now too. Look, Floyd won’t win this fight and he knows it. In all likelihood he will do even worse than McGregor did in the ring. Yet, he really would have nothing to lose and could likely demand an absolutely absurd price for the fight. Maybe this fight simply makes too much money to not end up happening in the Octagon in 2018.
