Floyd Mayweather Claims He Will Begin MMA Training Soon
At this point, Boxing Legend Floyd Mayweather is either serious about becoming an MMA fighter or just trying to keep his name in the headlines.
There have been rumors of a rematch between Mayweather Jr. and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor are ongoing.
McGregor has made it clear in previous interviews that he wants the rematch to happen. The UFC lightweight champion hasn’t competed under the UFC banner since UFC 205 when he beat Eddie Alvarez for the title.
If you recall, leading into their first bout, Mayweather stated that this would serve as his retirement fight, which would leave him with a perfect 50-0 pro-boxing record. If this fight does happen then, it wouldn’t impact his boxing record but rather his MMA record.
Longtime UFC color commentator Joe Rogan has kicked up speculation that the UFC may not book Mayweather vs. McGregor 2 inside of the Octagon.
Instead, they could go in a completely different direction by booking Mayweather against former WWE champion and current welterweight fighter CM Punk.
Punk made his UFC debut in a welterweight bout against Mickey Gall back at UFC 203. As seen in the fight, Gall dominated Punk and submitted him in just minutes in the very first round. This fight also marked Punk’s pro-MMA debut.
TMZ caught up with Mayweather in Los Angeles this week and talked to him about a potential transition into MMA.
During this brief interview, Mayweather noted that is going to take UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley up on his offer and claimed their work together could begin in the near future.
“I’m going to start soon,” Mayweather said (transcript courtesy of MMA Junkie). “We’ve been texting back and forth. We talked a couple times, but we’re going to start working out real soon.”
“I’ll probably need a little bit longer (than three months),” Mayweather said. “A little bit longer. Even if it takes six to eight months, whatever it takes, we just want to make sure everything is done correctly, and everything is done the right way.
“I can wrestle. My wrestling game is not that bad. On a scale from one to 10, I would say it’s probably a seven. We can take it up to a nine, if possible. Of course my hand game, on a scale of one to 10, it’s 100. The kicking game, on a scale from one to 10, it’s probably a four. We have to tweak a few things to take things to the next level.”
“Of course, they’re going to present the right numbers and we going to make it happen,” Mayweather said. “I can’t overlook or knock any MMA guy. Tyron is unbelievable – unbelievable fighter, tough competitor. Conor McGregor, he’s a tough competitor, a hell of a fighter. There’s a lot of tough, rugged guys out there in the MMA. I can’t overlook or disrespect those guys.”
