Floyd Mayweather Sr. Says Son Will Fight ‘MMA Fighter,’ Breathes New Life Into McGregor Rumor

Just when we thought the rumors about Floyd Mayweather fighting Conor McGregor had been laid to rest, Mayweather’s father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., seemed to confirm that his son was going to face an MMA fighter “pretty soon.”

“He told me the other day that he was going to take another fight,” the senior Mayweather told EsNews. “He says some kind of MMA fighter.”

Indeed, the Internet has all but exploded this past week over rumors that Floyd Mayweather would be trading leather with the UFC’s featherweight champion in a boxing match.

The rumors, however, were later written off as baseless from numerous MMA sources and by UFC president, Dana White.

“It’s not true; it’s just a tabloid story. And as far as I knew, Floyd is retired and he’s been on a world-wide vacation and hasn’t even been thinking of fighting.”

Now it appears Floyd Mayweather Sr. may have breathed new life into the rumor, bragging that if Conor stepped into the boxing ring, he would “get the Hell beat out of him” by the younger Mayweather.

“Only thing I’m going to tell you is that if it’s not MMA fighting, Conor gonna get the Hell beat out of him. And I know, ‘Little’ Floyd ain’t going for being an MMA fighter, so that means that Conor’s going to get the Hell beat out of him still anyway.”

Conor’s coach, John Kavanagh, has also dropped hints that his famous pupil will be stepping into the ring with the legendary boxer.

It's really fine mayweather we're having here pic.twitter.com/gUF73OUOer

— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) May 6, 2016

It is also not like the two do not have a history.

Earlier this year, Mayweather brought up Conor’s name when commenting on what he saw as the racist double standards in combat sports.

“They say he [Conor] talks a lot of trash and people praise him for it, but when I did it, they say I’m cocky and arrogant. So biased. Like I said before, all I’m saying is this: I ain’t racist at all, but I’m telling you racism still exists.”

McGregor did not appreciate being put “in a bracket” and fired back at Mayweather.

“I am a multicultural individual. I take from all cultures. Look at me. I am a product of many cultures as a young, Irish man. I know he wasn’t saying that I am that person, but it put me in that bracket. I did not appreciate that one bit. There’s people buried in the desert for less than that.”

With their preexisting history and the amount of money the fight would generate, it certainly would be tempting for Mayweather and Conor (both of whom love flaunting their lavish lifestyles) to turn up a chance to fight.

Still, it is hard to take the elder Floyd’s words as definitive evidence that Mayweather is seriously planning on fighting Conor anytime in the near future.

Throughout the interview, Mayweather Sr. repeatedly dodged the reporter’s requests to confirm that his son was fighting McGregor. He also said that his son “don’t care about that man.”

Furthermore, Conor McGregor is still under contract with the UFC and it is doubtful the promotion would want their biggest star injuring himself in a fight that would not make them any money.

Then again, Dana White has given his fighters some leeway to fight outside the octagon. Former UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, once expressed interest in fighting boxer Roy Jones Jr. back in 2013. After Silva lost his belt to Chris Weidman, White hinted that he would try to make it happen.

“First of all, Roy Jones Jr. is a longtime friend of mine. When I was a 19-year-old kid in the boxing business, Roy Jones was very good to me. So I’m in this position where I feel like Roy wants to fight him, he wants to fight Roy – I feel like I’m in this position to try to make both of these guys happy.”

However, Jones later said the UFC would not let Anderson Silva fight him.

As for the rumored match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, all that can be confirmed is that Mayweather Sr. believes he heard his son say something about fighting an MMA fighter, and that it may go down soon.

“I really don’t know exactly when, but I’m pretty sure it’s gonna come and pretty soon. Won’t be that long.”

[Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images]