Conor McGregor is confident that he will compete in boxing, not MMA, on his next bout.
Conor McGregor doubled up on recent talks about a possible boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. According to the 2-division MMA champion, whether the UFC is on board on not, he is confident his next bout will be in a ring instead of a cage.
“One-hundred percent,” McGregor said (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “I believe the next time I step into a combat arena will be through the ropes wearing 10-ounce or eight-ounce gloves. I believe so.
Much like Bloody Elbow’s John Nash laid out last year, McGregor may have a legal loophole that allows him to compete in boxing without the UFC’s permission. Conor brought up this avenue, but says he prefers if UFC, Mayweather, and him all worked together to make it happen.
“With the Ali Act, I believe I can,” McGregor said. “Especially now that there’s offers on the table. But I think it’s smoother if we’re all involved. I think we’re all about good business. I’ve done great business with the UFC, with Dana (White), with everyone. I think it’s smoother if everyone just gets together and we get it involved. But again, everyone’s got to know their place.
“Everyone’s got to know their place,” McGregor reiterated. “There’s Mayweather Promotions, there’s the UFC, and now the newly formed McGregor Promotions, and we’re all in the mix. So that’s what I’m saying. Nobody is my boss. I know Floyd likes to say Dana (White) is my boss and this and he decides. Hell no. Nobody decides this. If they let people go fight jiu-jitsu tournaments, they can’t stop me going to fight a boxing fight. So obviously it’s smoother to do it all together, but look, everyone’s just got to know their place, and everyone does know their place. Low key, everyone knows their place, so we’ll figure it out.”
McGregor says the Mayweather bout isn’t just in the “exploratory” stage as initially reported, and has been “in the works” for a while now. It’s a big money fight and he says he is more than willing to sit in the sidelines until it happens.
“I’ll tell you what, for $100 million, I’ll sit for another year,” McGregor said.
“I’m twitching (from inactivity) sometimes, but f-ck it, this is historic. Fighting Khabib what-the-f-ck-his-name-is, Tony Donkey, Jose, even Woodley for the third (title), it’s not this. Sometimes you’ve got to be patient with situations, and I feel this is one of them.”