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Sunday, May 22, 2016

Conor McGregor Says he Was Willing to do “Reasonable Media” For UFC 200, Argues Floyd Mayweather Needs Him

Conor McGregor

By FCF Staff

Conor McGregor refused to commit to all the media and marketing obligations the promotion had planned for UFC 200, and the fighter defended that decision in a recent interview with ESPN.

McGregor was scheduled to rematch Nate Diaz at the July 9th card, but after he relayed he would not attend all the pre-fight events, the UFC pulled the bout. At the time, McGregor said he wanted to focus on his training, and argued he has already done enough promoting for the UFC. Diaz submitted McGregor at UFC 196 in March.

More recently, McGregor has been in talks with the UFC regarding his next bout, but it’s clear his rematch with Diaz won’t be at UFC 200. During the ESPN interview, McGregor had this to say about the stance he took, regarding UFC 200 (quote via MMA Fighting.com):

“I didn’t just shut out and say no to everything. I just wanted to do reasonable media, and then, hey, all of a sudden, ‘Conor, it’s three months from the fight, we’ve got to drag you (onto) 40-hour flights to come and do a run around, New York, Vegas, California, 70 press conferences, 70 talk shows, adverts, all of this,’ and it’s like, I already made you $400 million last week. That was only last week, that fight. I need to get right.”

The interview comes at a time when Floyd Mayweather has been campaigning for a boxing match with the UFC’s featherweight champ. McGregor has fanned the rumor flames on Twitter by posting a picture of him facing off with the undefeated boxer. During the aforementioned interview, however, McGregor said this:

“At 27 years of age, Floyd Mayweather was on Oscar de la Hoya’s undercard. Compare that. Who doesn’t want to conquer both worlds? He’s getting old now. I have the size, I have the reach, I have the height. I have the youth. He needs me, I don’t need him. That’s the truth of it. Who else he can fight? He fights someone else in the boxing realm, all of a sudden the pay goes from $100 million to $15 million. He needs me. If he wants to talk, we can talk, but it’s me who is in control here.”

Since McGregor is under contract with the UFC, a boxing match between the fighter and Mayweather is quite unlikely.

posted by FCF Staff @ 12:02 pm
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