Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be retired, but he continues to make headlines as his MMA pursuit continues.
Since his “Billion Dollar” boxing bout with Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has made one MMA headline after another. His boxing image and character have seamlessly transitioned over to the world of MMA. He has continued to rub MMA fighters up the wrong way, with some MMA fighters feeling disrespected by Mayweather Jr’s recent comments. The spontaneous development of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s MMA story has added fuel to the fire of a potential rematch with Conor McGregor, but with this confrontation happening inside the UFC Octagon. The chances of this happening edged closer as Mayweather Jr. announced on TMZ that he needs 6-8 months of training before he applies for his MMA license and competes in mixed martial arts.
These comments from Mayweather Jr. may have fooled some people, but UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway is not buying Mayweather Jr.’s act.
“In boxing, he’s greatest,” Holloway said Monday on The MMA Hour. “There’s no hate towards him. He finished smart, he made a lot of money, he changed the sport in a lot of ways, and he got there using his brains and being smart … and not being humiliated.
“You guys really believe this guy is going to take an MMA fight, at however old he is right now, against a young guy that’s tough who people consider one of the best in the sport? It just blows my mind, man.
“If people believe that kind of stuff, it’s wild. I really don’t know what to say.”
There is a clear respect from all MMA fighters when it comes to Mayweather Jr.’s boxing accomplishments, but Holloway believes that Mayweather is either making a huge oversight or showing how good of a marketing machine he is.
Fellow UFC fighter and welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has championed the idea of Floyd Mayweather Jr. competing in mixed martial arts, offering his services and experience in the process, but Holloway believes that Woodley is only doing this to put himself in the conversation.
“I mean, I love Woodley,” Holloway said. “Woodley’s the man. He’s a great dude, but I swear he talks about everything. He’s talking about everything. Whatever you can talk about, he talks about it. That guy is always on TMZ or something, so he wants to be talked about all of the time, that’s it. Woodley, you are the man, brother, but I think it’s a PR stunt.
“How can you not think it’s not a PR stunt? I don’t know. This guy is always — every time I see on Twitter something retweeting about TMZ, it’s Tyron Woodley talking about it. So it’s like, gosh, is this guy a champion or is he a TMZ reporter? What is going on, my friend?”
Regardless of whether Floyd Mayweather Jr. is serious about competing in MMA or not, he is keeping himself relevant in the world of combat sports.
Is this another marketing ploy by Mayweather Jr or is he serious about competing in MMA?
