In addition to opening up about his “publicized civil war” with UFC management to ESPN on Sunday morning, UFC Featherweight Champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor also addressed the recent talk about a potential boxing match between he and boxing’s former pound-for-pound king and undisputed top draw Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“It was him that leaked the rumor,” McGregor said. “He gets $100 million, and I get $7 million? That is a pay cut to me. I don’t take pay cuts. I thought boxing was where the money was at. Seven million is absolutely laughable. He’s talking $100 million. I’m also talking $100 million. I’m 27 years of age and I’m just about halfway through a $100 million contract.”
McGregor continued, breaking down the financial side of the rumors regarding a proposed bout with “Money” Mayweather.
“At 27 years of age, Floyd Mayweather was on Oscar de la Hoya’s undercard. Compare that. Who doesn’t want to conquer both worlds? He’s getting old now. I have the size, I have the reach, I have the height. I have the youth. He needs me, I don’t need him. That’s the truth of it. Who else he can fight? He fights someone else in the boxing realm, all of a sudden the pay goes from $100 million to $15 million. He needs me. If he wants to talk, we can talk, but it’s me who is in control here.”
As McGregor explained, he doesn’t necessarily care about the fact that the rumored bout would be under boxing rules, not the MMA rules he has mastered throughout his professional career.
“I don’t really care about rules,” McGregor said. “He can make all the rules he wants. I know he will not want to fight in a mixed martial arts contest in a true fight. If he wants to fight in a limited fight, that’s no problem we can do that. I will set a aside the many forms of fighting that I practice in and I will focus on one particular craft.”
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above Conor McGregor quotes.
