Earlier this week, the combat sports community was stunned as it was confirmed that a Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing match would be taking place on August 26th at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas.

While UFC President Dana White was quick to do a Q&A and answer fans questions, Floyd Mayweather remained silent on the matter, until now. He spoke to BSOTV to give his first interview on the recently announced scrap:

“McGregor is a tough competitor. People all around the world demanded this fight so I had to give them what they wanted to see,” said Mayweather in a recent interview with BSOTV (shown above). “They asked for this fight. I was in retirement, but they wanted me back and I’m back.”

Given McGregor’s Irish pride, and level of superstardom, many are expecting Conor McGregor to receive quite a bit of support from fans during the press conferences prior to the fight, as well as on fight night.

Mayweather addressed the fan support of McGregor, saying:

“You’re supposed to stand behind your man. Stand behind the fighter that you believe in,” said Mayweather about McGregor’s followers. “He’s a hell of a competitor.”

Mayweather of course is seeking his 50th professional win as a boxer, as he looks to keep his record unblemished. McGregor on the other hand of course will be stepping into the ring for the first time as a professional boxer, as he looks to shock the world and not only hand Mayweather his first professional loss, but also pick up a historic win.

As previously stated, the fight goes down August 26th in Las Vegas, and is expected to be the biggest pay-per view event in the history of combat sports should it break the previous record set by the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/17/2017.