Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are cut from the same cloth when it comes to being vocal and staying in the news.
So when Mayweather questioned McGregor’s popularity in a recent interview with Fight Hype, it was only a matter of time before the UFC champion fired back at the undefeated boxer.
Mayweather compared his own trash talk to McGregor’s and suggested the fighters’ outspoken tactics are viewed differently — Mayweather is criticized whereas McGregor is praised — because “racism still exists” in combat sports. The comment didn’t sit well with McGregor, who addressed Mayweather’s interesting stance in a rousing Instagram post over the weekend.
A photo posted by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma) on
“Floyd Mayweather, don’t ever bring race into my success again,” McGregor wrote. “I am an Irishman. My people have been oppressed our entire existence. And still very much are. I understand the feeling of prejudice. It is a feeling that is deep in my blood.”
McGregor even offered to fight Mayweather — with a catch. The UFC champion offered an 80/20 purse split in his own favor because Mayweather’s last fight against Andre Berto — perhaps the final bout of Mayweather’s boxing career — bombed from a revenue perspective.
Of course, one shouldn’t expect to see the 27-year-old McGregor and the 38-year-old Mayweather trade blows anytime soon, even though such an MMA-boxing crossover almost certainly would break pay-per-view records. However, one should expect a verbal rebuttal from Mayweather.
After all, these guys talk the talk as well as they walk the walk.
Thumbnail photo via Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports Images