Floyd Mayweather will never forget his crossover boxing match with UFC star Conor McGregor, and he thinks it left a long-lasting impression on McGregor as well.
Nine years ago, Mayweather competed in his final professional fight, a massive spectacle that saw him take on McGregor, a two-division UFC champion and the biggest star in the promotion’s history. The event was preceded by a multi-city tour and went on to produce huge numbers at the box office and huge paydays for the two men involved. As for the fight itself, Mayweather defeated McGregor via technical knockout in Round 10 to close out his career 50-0, though McGregor managed to win a few of the early rounds.
Mayweather recently appeared on the PBD Podcast, where he spoke on a number of topics, including where McGregor’s promotional skills rank among the all-time greats.
“You mean the guy that took my whole swag and took it over there to the UFC?” Mayweather said. “You tell me. As soon as Conor McGregor faced Floyd Mayweather, he was big as life. I mean, his career wasn’t like that before. What was his biggest payday? What was his biggest fight?
“When he got me, what kind of money did he make? I think I made about 300. I don’t know like to count another man’s pocket, but he ate good. I’m pretty sure he ate good.”
The disclosed payday for Mayweather vs. McGregor saw Mayweather earn $100 million and McGregor $30 million—a massive jump from his highest disclosed UFC check, which was $3 million for a 2016 rematch with Nate Diaz—though both fighters likely made considerably more once all the accounting for the event was done (Maywather claims to have made around $300 million for the fight).
McGregor and Mayweather delivered of verbal back-and-forth in the lead-up to their fight, with McGregor occasionally taking the lead with his trash talk. Mayweather claims he was happy to let McGregor mouth off and that there’s a chance they could do it all over again in the future.
“What I was saying is talking doesn’t win fights,” Mayweather said. “He can do all that he wants, I know that when you get in there with Floyd Mayweather, I’m the truth. When you get in there, it’s go time. So this whole arena could be filled with Conor McGregor fans, but they can’t fight for you. The fans can’t fight for you.
“Actually, I think me and Conor McGregor may lock up again. Yeah, absolutely. He didn’t break his hand, he broke his foot, right? OK, we’re going from the shoulders.”
McGregor is currently sidelined with a knee injury suffered in his comeback fight against Max Holloway at UFC 329 this past July. That marked McGregor’s first fight since 2021 and it ended in a disappointing 69 seconds when a clearly compromised McGregor was saved by referee Mike Beltran. The 38-year-old McGregor has repeatedly stated his plans to complete the final fight of his UFC contract in 2027 and become a free agent.
That leaves Mayweather vs. McGregor 2 as a possibility, though don’t expect Mayweather to initiate conversation with McGregor until it’s necessary.
“I’m not really upset with anyone,” Mayweather said when asked if he is on friendly terms with McGregor. “I don’t live with Conor McGregor, he’s not my friend. I don’t have to see him. It’s just when it’s time for us to do business and lock up, let’s do it. … If we got to sit down to talk for business sake, if we have to put the fight together by sitting down having dinner, then we’ll do it. But all in all, I could care less, I don’t need to be friends with anyone.”