By: Rich Bergeron
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is not done fighting. The money he made with Conor McGregor in a one-sided boxing match will not be very easy to make outside the dangerous world of combat sports. Retirement always seems to eat at Floyd, and sooner or later he comes back for another blockbuster bout that shocks the world.
CM Punk needs a draw to get us interested in his career. Even if he beats the ever living crap out of the next guy they feed him in the UFC Octagon, Punk will still have a lot to prove. Put him in against Mayweather in a welcome to MMA bout for the world-class boxer, and make it the dream setup for Floyd that gives him all the perks and sponsorship concessions he wants in the contract.
Floyd would be an automatic underdog going in against McGregor immediately in the cage. A challenger like CM Punk gives him more of a fighting chance. It gives CM punk a chance to really launch his career if he can beat Floyd.
The fact is, Mayweather can learn the sport of mixed martial arts quickly, and with his speed and athleticism, given more striking options he could actually shock us in his first MMA fight… if he really backs up his talk of fighting in the cage with action.
During the tour for the boxing match, Floyd repeatedly referenced the idea of fighting McGregor in the cage after the boxing match went his way. He doesn’t say things out loud that he doesn’t really think are true or could be true if he sunk his effort into it.
I had the good fortune of standing on the edge of the ring next to Leonard Ellerbe during a Mayweather training session in Las Vegas years ago.
Before he threw any punches on the mitts I asked him what he liked most about boxing. I didn’t attempt to get close during the big press rush, so I think he didn’t expect the question.
He sat silent, and I didn’t want it to go hanging like a bad fart in the wind. I asked it again, even louder. He didn’t look my way as he shadowboxed with himself. “Everything.” he finally conceded, and then he went to to work on exhibiting his speed and punching prowess for all the media to see.
Incorporating elbows, backfists, kicks and wrestling into his fighting routine could create a real monster out of Mayweather. Also, the money from boxing that would follow him to the cage could be tremendous for him and the UFC alike. It will take a ton of work at his age to adapt to the new sport, but CM Punk as a first opponent sets the bar fairly low with both men getting a chance to show they belong. Give them both a serious training camp, make a reality show out of it, and it could happen.
“Money” is already preparing to train in mixed martial arts with UFC Champ Tyron Woodley, and he heaped some praise on both Woodley and McGregor as fighters recently:
“So we have to tweak a few things then, take things to that next level. You know I can’t overlook or knock any MMA guy. Tyron is unbelievable. Unbelievable fighter, tough competitor. Conor McGregor, he’s a tough competitor, helluva fighter. There’s a lot of tough, rugged guys out there in MMA and I can’t overlook or disrespect those guys.”
The MMA versus Boxing debate has been going on since long before I decided to do my own take on it with a series of radio shows pitting one expert against another. One of my favorites was “Iceman” John Scully against Ken Shamrock.
Not surprisingly, the debate between these two fighter/trainer experts drifted into Mayweather making the crossover to MMA. This is not a new concept to Floyd. He’s been hearing the critics yap about him never making it in MMA for more than a decade now, always thinking about how he could one day prove his haters wrong.
Anyone who thinks the best MMA fighter in his weight class demolishes Floyd has never watched him train. What could this guy do with a couple of tune-up fights and a title tilt? How about 9 months of hard training in takedown and submission defense?
Everybody and their brother who knows anything about MMA decides to use the argument of all the past boxers who failed at MMA. They remind us all of the freakshow fight involving Randy Couture easily defeating James Toney. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is not only on a different level than James Toney was when he got the chance to fight in the cage, he’s on a different planet.
Floyd can afford the best trainers, the best of everything really in preparing to enter the UFC Octagon. He will spare no expense in finances and sweat equity in cementing his legacy as the best crossover fighter in the history of the boxing and MMA rivalry. Who has the best true athletes? Mayweather is representing boxing’s best, and he doesn’t have much time left to prove that a world class boxer can dominate the MMA scene with the right approach and strategy.
McGregor did prove that he could give Floyd a few fits in the boxing ring, but on the third fight into a UFC contract that match could happen again in the cage. Floyd just has to show he belongs, but the first step is having the guts to back up his words with actions. He did say on the boxing press tour for the McGregor fight that when he beat McGregor in his own craft, he would go to the UFC and beat Conor in the cage, too.
I anticipate a “Shark Tank” type of negotiation between Mayweather and UFC President Dana White. Floyd will need to get a piece of the promotion itself, access to a wild amount of sponsorship cash, options to collect on media income, and at least $10 million per fight in just base pay. To get the billion dollar contract he envisions, the lawyers will be ironing out the details for as long as Floyd decides he needs to train for his first fight.
Floyd could easily rake in $90+ million in sponsorship and media income to make $100 million per fight with Showtime executives in his corner and a familiarity with being in front of the cameras. A five fight deal means there is a 1/2 billion dollar gap unless I am underestimating how much the UFC would give Floyd for base pay. Even if he makes $200 million per fight, the rest would have to come out of the overall corporation itself as equity, which is what Conor McGregor has been asking for.
Floyd just has a bigger upside to being an owner/partner and would be a huge asset when it comes to the UFC wanting to promote boxing at some point. He can also bring his fans and everyone who wants to see him get whipped and schooled in the new discipline. He brings eyeballs, extreme attention and money with him wherever he goes. At a $5 billion valuation, the UFC would likely be able to part with a ten percent chunk of the promotion to bring Mayweather officially on board and get him locked in for a long-term deal.
The other area that Floyd could have a huge impact on is in attracting more boxers to cross over to MMA. We’ve seen football players like Matt Mitrione and Greg Hardy experience virtually immediate success in MMA, so why not a world class boxer like Floyd? 19-0 Pro Boxer Gervonta Davis is already hinting at following his protege Floyd to MMA and says he’s just waiting for Dana White’s phone call. Then there are the heavyweight boxers to think about bringing into the cage, and Word Champion Anthony Joshua is keen on giving it a shot, too.
So, the odds are high that Mayweather steps into the cage to compete by December of this year if you believe one of his most controversial videos to date on the subject:
Mayweather could be an incredible MMA fighter if given half the chance. He is not a man who takes a challenge like this lightly. He will have the best approach possible to get into cagefighting shape. He will bring all kinds of interest back to the boxing vs. MMA debate and actually might even inspire a whole new phase of that debate. The combat sports world as a whole will benefit if Floyd and the UFC can make this partnership work.
As for those who think Floyd will get eaten alive, they are certainly entitled to their opinion, but don’t use McGregor’s failure to adapt to boxing as your bar for Floyd. Mayweather will not take on a world class MMA fighter the first time he steps in the cage. He will not bring in the MMA equivalent of Paulie Malignaggi to get up to speed on the sport. He will spare no expense to get the best preparation possible. He’s already showing that to be true by bringing Tyron Woodley on as his official training partner. He will hand pick his first opponent and likely not get any crack at a title until two or three fights go his way.
Critics of people who think they can show up to an MMA gym and come out in six weeks at the UFC level will call me crazy, but Floyd truly is an amazing athlete who can quiet his doubters, and he’s not getting any younger. It’s now or never to solve that question of which sport is truly better at crafting the ideal fighter.