Is Floyd Mayweather Jr. really contemplating a UFC bout?

Feb

Chatter is spreading that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is considering un-retiring – Would this be the second or third time, or what? I can’t keep track – and fighting again.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Be06rXcg39o/

And not in a square ring, whispers say, but in a cage.

Yes, in an Octagon and presumably against rival Conor McGregor, who fought Floyd on his turf last August. The Irishman, a trash-talker who betters Mayweather in that realm, gave a solid account of himself before his lungs and legs betrayed him and Floyd stopped him in round ten.

Using mixed martial arts rules, we would figure McGregor could do the same to Floyd in round one on a UFC card. Thus we would be quite surprised if Floyd, at 40-plus, would scrap with the UFC’er using accepted MMA rules. Takedown, ground-and-pound, Floyd loses that aura of invincibility. Would an immense paycheck be worth it?

Floyd and Showtime’s President of Sports and Event Programming Stephen Espinoza were conferring and the cable chieftain posted a pic that hinted something was brewing.

You sleep. We don't. #AlwaysWorking #SBLII #MayweatherMMA pic.twitter.com/ARq9L5y2hC

— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) February 4, 2018

I asked his office for a confirm or deny on the “Floyd to UFC for McGregor sequel” story and was told that, for right now, the interaction Espinoza had with TMZ Sports on February 1 is still applicable. He was asked about a possible MMA fight for the “Money” man.

“It will be a topic of conversation,” Stephen told TMZ Sports, and we can assume, indeed, it was. The suit and the (ex – or is it?) fighter chatted it up in Minnesota.

That social post from Espinoza? He’s fanning flames, after Floyd laid down the kindling…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeoiiZHhK4g/

“There’s a chance…Whatever he puts his mind to, he sort of wills into happening. (Floyd) willed the McGregor fight into happening, so, if he sets his mind to it, it’ll happen,” said the exec, noting he’d support Floyd if he took up ice hockey. Could Floyd beat Conor? Espinoza hesitated and offered that he’d not bet against Floyd.

Ah, but so many would…So many would want to see the spectacle. The setting and the rules set make a rematch that much more palatable, thus could better support the sort of paycheck size “Money” would seek.

And how much money would it take to lure Mayweather back? “He’s not an eight-figure guy anymore. He’s a nine-figure guy,” says Espinoza.

So there’s smoke. Will there be fire? Mayweather’s right hand man Leonard Ellerbe told me two weeks ago his guy is retired, for real this time, and he sees and hears nothing from Floyd that makes him think Money is coming off hiatus – I mean, un-retiring.

UPDATE: Espinoza checked in with RING and offered this to say when asked if there’s anything more than smoke, if there’s fire to be found in this Mayweather to UFC chatter.

“Floyd seems very happy in retirement, and I haven’t heard or seen anything that leads me to believe an un-retirement is imminent,” Espinoza said on Thursday afternoon. “Having said that, Floyd loves to surprise people by doing the unexpected, and he has proven that whatever he puts his mind to, he can make happen. So I wouldn’t say that anything is out of the question for Floyd Mayweather.”

Readers, you think Floyd would do a UFC bout or one with modified rules? Talk to me!

Follow Michael Woods on Twitter @Woodsy1069.

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