Floyd Mayweather's UFC Debut Might Not Be Happening Because of This One Slight Hitch
Floyd Mayweather Jr. continues to drum up rumors about a potential Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut, but there is one slight hitch that might throw a monkey wrench into it all.
The undefeated boxing champ recently stated that he will set foot into the octagon for his first mixed martial arts (MMA) fight "if the money is right." The second thing is that Showtime and CBS will have to be involved.
UFC president Dana White is not very keen on working with the former though. "That ain't happening...That ain't happening," White dismissed when told about Mayweather's demands at the UFC 223 post-event press conference. "We'll do it on HBO," he then joked.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
White is not looking to work with Showtime after their disagreement on the numbers drawn in by Mayweather's boxing fight with Conor McGregor in August of 2016.
Showtime claimed that the pay-per-view event raked in 4.3 million PPV buys in North America, which meant that the fight failed to outdo the undisputed boxer's "Fight of the Century" with Manny Pacquiao in 2015.
The number was a far cry from what White has reported, which is 6.7 million, taking into account worldwide sales. The huge disparity in the reports clearly did not sit well with the UFC boss.
"I don't give a (expletive) about Showtime's (expletive) full of (expletive) press release they put out," he told Yahoo Sports at that time. "It's the biggest fight ever, ever in combat sports history. The thing did over 6.7 million buys, and if the service didn't drop we would have got closer to 7 million," he went on to say.
White said that with the way Showtime handled the press release, he declared he will "never" work with them again. "I didn't trust them before, and now I despise those (expletive) guys," he said.
Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinoza responded via Twitter, writing, "Sounds like he's upset because we committed the cardinal sin of telling the truth."
That being said, it looks like fans should not count on White and Espinoza teaming up to make Mayweather's UFC debut happen. Whether or not this rift has extinguished the possibility of the boxer dipping his toes in MMA remains to be seen.
Mayweather has already been training with UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who said that from what he has seen so far, the 41-year-old might also find success inside the octagon.
He revealed on "UFC Tonight" that his boxing skills, which are no doubt some of the best in the business, will be crucial in helping him hold his own in an MMA fight.
"Obviously, every round starts on the feet. Every fight starts on the feet, and if you can keep it on the feet, I think that he can hold his own with pretty much anyone in that weight division. My job is to really just help him avoid being taken down, using angles, using footwork, using defense, how to get back up if he gets taken down," Woodley said.
Mayweather vows that if he ever comes out of retirement again, it will be for UFC. Whether White and Espinoza could set aside their differences to make this reality — this might be the biggest hurdle in this.
