If Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather never fight, you can’t argue that both men have gained a ton of publicity for their war of words.
Yesterday, Mayweather appeared on ESPN’s First Take. There, he claimed he offered McGregor $15 million to fight him in a boxing ring. That offer apparently would’ve included pay-per-view (PPV) incentives. Mayweather said his number would’ve been $100 million because he’s on the “A-side.”
McGregor caught wind of “Money’s” claims. While he didn’t respond to the offer directly, he did throw a dig at Mayweather’s past.
Call me C.J Watson! https://t.co/9m2Omw4Wca pic.twitter.com/GZMzxxTsbb
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 11, 2017
C.J. Watson is an NBA point guard for the Orlando Magic. His text messages are believed to have set Mayweather off as he was accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Josie Harris. “Money” was also alleged to have threatened to kill Harris and Watson. Mayweather was arrested and plead guilty to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge. He was released from a Las Vegas jail after serving two months.
Last year was huge for McGregor both lucratively and as an athlete. He got off to a rough start when he was submitted by Nate Diaz at UFC 196. The fight was at welterweight and “Notorious” insisted that he get another shot at Diaz at 170 pounds. He got his wish and won the rematch by majority decision.
McGregor then turned his attention to Eddie Alvarez, who was the lightweight title holder. “Notorious” was up to his usual antics, even picking up a chair and threatening to throw it at Alvarez during a press conference. McGregor captured the lightweight title with a first round TKO win inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
For UFC 196, McGregor earned a base salary of $1 million. His pay for UFC 202 increased to $3 million. At UFC 205, McGregor broke his own record for highest paid UFC fighter for a single bout with $3.5 million.
While Mayweather brags about making much more money per fight, his “farewell” bout against Andre Berto flopped. That PPV was estimated to have only drawn between 400,000 and 550,000 buys. UFC 205’s estimate hovers around 1.6 million.
