The long winding road that is the potential boxing bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr and UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor has taken another turn.
Mayweather Jr now states that he has come out of retirement to fight the UFC veteran.
“When I faced Arturo Gatti, I went to his turf,” Mayweather said to Fight Hype. “He was the A side, I was the B side. I beat him, I didn’t cry, I didn’t complain. When I faced Oscar De La Hoya, he was the A side, I was the B side. I didn’t cry, I didn’t complain, I beat him and I became the A side. For Conor McGregor, I’m coming out of retirement, just to fight Conor McGregor. I don’t want to hear no more excuses about the money, about the UFC. Sign the paper with the UFC so you can fight me in June. Simple and plain. Let’s fight in June. You’re the B side, I’m the A side. We’re not here to cry about money. I’m tired of all this crying about money and talking about you want to fight. You blowing smoke up everybody’s ass. If you want to fight, sign the paperwork, let’s do it. Today, I’m officially out of retirement for Conor McGregor. We don’t need to waste no time. We need to make this s**t happen quickly. Let’s get it on in June.”
Mayweather admitted last year to starting the rumors of a potential fight with McGregor, but McGregor stated that he'd either want it to be an MMA fight or a guaranteed purse of $100 million. McGregor obtained a California boxing license last year, but Mayweather stated that he doesn't compete in California.
In February, it was reported that McGregor and Mayweather had settled on respective payouts, although the contract had yet to be signed due to a "third party holdup." McGregor would still likely need to get clearance from the UFC, and Mayweather's announcement of an "unretirement" is quite possibly just to keep the bout in the public eye.
McGregor hasn’t competed since defeating Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC Lightweight Title at UFC 205.
