There is ever-increasing reason to believe that a boxing mega-fight between UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor and undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. could actually happen. According to Mayweather’s Uncle, Jeff Mayweather, however, there remains one massive hurdle in the way of this fight: the UFC wants a massive piece of the pie.
In a recent interview with Helen Yee, which can be viewed at the top of this post, the Mayweather Uncle explained that Dana White and the UFC are looking to bank 80% of whatever McGregor gets paid for this fight.
“It’s a fight that, right now, is just kind of up in the air because, last I heard, Conor McGregor has to take a horrendous split,” he said. “80-20, percent. He would have to take 20% if he’s allowed to fight. The one thing is that Dana [White] is his boss. I mean, [Conor will] still make more money than he ever did, but at the same time, that’s a very tough pill to swallow. I mean, if somebody tells you, ‘I’m going to take 80% of your money,’ and you’re the one who’s fighting for it, that’s still a tough pill to swallow, even if you’re making more money than you ever did. But it is what it is.”
“That’s the major issue,” Mayweather continued. “I think that once he signs the contract, the fight will be made. If I was Floyd, I’d be licking my chops, and that’s what he’s doing. Floyd has no problem signing the contract. It’s up to Conor. We’ll see what he does.”
Unfortunately, Mayweather believes that this rather inequitable split between the UFC and McGregor could be what kills this fight.
“The talk of that fight has kind of died down,” he explained. “Like I said, if Conor makes the agreement and does what Dana asks of him, the whole world will stop waiting and the fight will be made.”
While the elder Mayweather claims Floyd recently said he was starting his training camp for the fight, he says nothing has changed in their gym since then – an indication that the fight has hit a major speed bump.
“[Floyd] came in and he said that he was ready to get started on camp for the fight, but obviously it’s not happening,” he said. “When Floyd says something like that, immediately, this gym is shut down, and it’s totally different than it is now. Obviously, Conor hasn’t signed the contract yet so, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Do you think this Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight will ever happen?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/6/2017.