For his own sake, we hope Conor McGregor isn’t focused on the wrong things. He’s got a rematch with Nate Diaz — who, in March, handed McGregor his first loss in five years — coming up next Saturday at UFC 202. Yet, when a potential mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. is brought up, McGregor can’t resist taking the bait.
At a workout Friday in Las Vegas open to the media to promote UFC 202, McGregor was asked where things stood with Mayweather. In similar situations, many athletes would fall back on the clichéd, “I’m focused on my next opponent” response. Not McGregor.
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"Right now I have Floyd running around the Showtime offices gathering my money, that's what he's doing," McGregor said, per Bleacher Report. "He's running around the Showtime offices begging those executives to come up with a $100 million cash to fight me. As soon as he gets my money, we can fight."
Should a Mayweather-McGregor bout happen, it would likely be under boxing rules, a format some say gives McGregor no chance. As long as the price is right, McGregor doesn’t care what the rules are.
“Look, if you want to fight me, we can fight,” he said. “If you need a specific rule set to protect you from a true fight, that's no problem. Just make sure that money is there, and as long as that money is there, then we can fight under your safety net of rules. But me, I don't need rules. I am the f------ rules."
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There are, of course, contractual issues, mainly between McGregor and UFC president Dana White, to work out before Mayweather-McGregor is made. There is also next week’s card in Las Vegas.