Now that UFC 202 is in the books, the world is Conor McGregor’s oyster.
‘The Notorious’ is back in the decision-making driving seat after returning to the win column with his majority decision victory over Nate Diaz in their grudge rematch on Saturday night.
McGregor remains vague on what’s next up for him, telling a scrum of reporters after his win that “there’s a lot of options and some might not be this sport.”
#ConorMcGregor leaves on crutches and hints for his next fight “there’s a lot of options, & it might not be UFC”https://t.co/gpv8ESRaGB
— Ricky C (@RickyCDublin) August 21, 2016
And former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub believes that there is more to McGregor’s remark than a simple tease as Schaub reckons that the Irishman is going to venture into boxing next for a massive payday against none other than Floyd Mayweather.
McGregor and Mayweather have gone back-and-forth on a potential cross-sport super-fight for about a year now and with a number of options open for ‘The Notorious’, Schaub has explained why he thinks the pair are destined to clash.
“I’ll tell you exactly what you do and what he’s going to do. You fight Floyd Mayweather for $30 million and keep the rest of the UFC on ice because you’re the biggest star,” Schaub said on his podcast The Fighter and the Kid.
Floyd Mayweather tries to sweet-talk Conor McGregor into superfight https://t.co/QBfUTyNf86 pic.twitter.com/u2Yfx62gSk
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 17, 2016
“Get your money because the route the UFC’s going to have you go is going to be fucking rocky. It’s going to be tough. There are a lot of tough match-ups. I don’t know what happens.
“Right now you’re ‘Mystic Mac’ and you just beat Nate Diaz in a huge rematch. Hopefully it’s the biggest pay-per-view of all time. I’m sure it’s going to be top five easy. His other three fights are.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=654&v=poLTJako_yc
In fact Schaub, who competed on the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter, has intel that leads him to believe that the boxer vs. mixed martial artist contest almost came to pass before a decision on the purse split eventually put the kibosh on the fight.
Schaub continued: “From what I hear from inside sources is the only reason that Floyd and Conor didn’t fight before – they had a venue, the teams agreed to it, I heard everything was in agreement – was a money issue between Conor and Floyd which seems to happen with Floyd a lot.
“Floyd thinks he deserves all the money which is a legit argument, and Conor thinks he deserves all the money so they just need to come to agreement on the money.
“Granted, it’s a circus. It’s crazy to even think about it, you’re fighting probably the best boxer of all time. But you’re telling me everybody in this room wouldn’t pay to watch that?
“You’re telling me you wouldn’t rather watch Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather than Conor vs. Jose Aldo II?”
On the latest GAA Hour we look back at Mayo-Tipperary and chat to Andy Moran about his incredible, never-ending career. Listen below or subscribe here on iTunes.