Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor News: Mayweather Says Fight Is 'Getting Very, Very Close'
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Conor McGregor has been angling for a fight with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. for some time now. After months of trading barbs back-and-forth, some progress was made last month when the UFC and Mayweather's camp began to negotiate. So far, they have failed to come up with a deal, but Mayweather has hinted that the bout may be inching closer to reality.
ESPN has reported that Mayweather recently told commentator Stephen A. Smith that a fight between them was "getting very, very close." McGregor is in Las Vegas right now and it seems that he's sitting down with Mayweather to work out the finer details.
Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Anthony Marnell also confirmed that negotiations were underway between the two sides, but he said they have yet to strike a deal. "There is a lot of real stuff going on. It still seems like a long shot, but when there is a lot of money involved, people tend to figure it out," he said.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Maybe it will get figured out, but it's going to be hard when everyone is declaring they want $100 million. That's not what I said — that's what they've said. That's their quotes, not mine. If everyone wants $100 million, that's a lot of $100 millions to go around," he added.
A number of publications have reported that they have already reached an agreement, but Mayweather has shot down those rumors.
Meanwhile, Marnell also pointed out that McGregor has to convince the UFC to let him fight first since he's still under contract with the mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company. McGregor has said before that he's willing to fight with or without the UFC's support, but UFC president Dana White has told him that wouldn't be a good idea.
Right now, there's still a lot of things to figure out before they can agree on a deal, but it's good to see some progress in the negotiation table.
