UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor recently took part in a one-hour, pay-per-view interview in front of a live audience of 5,000, and detailed who he wants to fight next.
“I have my eyes on one thing right now and that’s Floyd Mayweather. That’s the thing I have my eye on,” said McGregor, as transcribed by Alex Bourque for NewsQuench.
“I’m sitting at the house and Floyd offers $15 million. Then Dana offers $25 million. I’m sitting in my house watching the millions go up. Like, this is all right. This is all right.”
This is not hyperbole. Mayweather did suggest a split that made McGregor $15,000,000. The bad news was Mayweather wanted $100,000,000 for himself. White countered with an offer of $25,000,000 guaranteed for each, and then a split of the profits to be negotiated.
There was idle speculation that the sum was enough for White to appear serious, but low enough so Mayweather would wholly reject it, allowing White to focus on his business which is MMA. And a big part of that is contracting McGregor to fight someone in the Octagon on PPV, not box someone in a ring. However, McGregor believes he can box Mayweather even without the boss’s blessing.
“With the Ali Act, I believe I can,” he said. “I know Floyd likes to say that Dana is my boss and that he decides. Hell no. Nobody decides this. If they let people go fight jiu-jitsu tournaments, they can’t stop me going to fight a boxing fight.”
UFC contracts explicitly prohibit competing in other combat sports. The ban can be waived for a BJJ event if there is not fight scheduled, but it is a leap from there to what could be the biggest fight in combat sports history.
