Floyd Mayweather insists he has never had a bad word to say about UFC stars Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey, revealing he is planning to promote some MMA fights this year.
The retired champion boxer has been called out several times by McGregor, Rousey and even UFC President Dana White, with the claim being made that Mayweather would lose against a UFC opponent, per MMA Mania's Alex Schlinsky.
Following McGregor's first career UFC defeat to Nate Diaz on Saturday—and Rousey's maiden loss to Holly Holm in November—Mayweather said he has never had any issue with either fighter, and blamed the media for twisting his own words about them, per FightHype's Ben Thompson:
I never once said anything negative about Ronda Rousey. Never. I never once said anything disrespectful about, I want to make sure I call his name right, Conor McGregor? Okay. I never said anything negative about them.
Now, I can wake up on the wrong side of the bed and not be happy that day because I'm not well rested. They can ask me a question about a male or a female, but if I'm not happy, I may say, "You know what? I don't give a f--k about them." And then you know what the media is going to say? "Floyd said f--k them." When I basically said, "I don't give a f--k about them," basically I'm saying, "I don't even want to talk about them today. I just want to talk about me," but they're going to take your words and twist it and put it out there the way that they want to put it out there.
Remember, before it was Ronda Rousey. Then when she took an L, they moved her out the way and now they put someone else in her place.
Listen to the full interview below (Warning: NSFW language):
The American arguably has a point. Much was made previously of Mayweather saying he did not know who Rousey was back in 2014, but it is nothing compared to the claims that have been made about him from the UFC world.
White previously suggested the former UFC women's bantamweight champion would "rag-doll" Money if they met in a fight, per Colin Cowherd on FS1's The Herd.
Rousey herself told Mayweather to text her "when he learns to read and write," via TMZ Sports (h/t the Guardian), and McGregor previously claimed, if he fought Floyd, he would "kill him in less than 30 seconds," per Esquire's Chris Jones.
Floyd's response to the latter jibe from the Irishman was to say, per TMZ Sports: "I don't take that dude seriously. He's just trying to get himself some publicity."
And Mayweather was brought up again before McGregor's fight against Diaz at the weekend, per UFC:
...and a few words from @TheNotoriousMMA on Floyd Mayweather at #UFC196 presser - https://t.co/A07wMCZZyC https://t.co/XPpJc5GHQy
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 3, 2016
Mayweather, though retired, is still a huge name in the fighting world and creates headlines despite having not fought since beating Andre Berto back September 2015.
His response to Rousey's defeat to Holm, in which he said he didn't think "it's cool how everyone is trolling [Ronda] on social media," was widely reported, per FightHype.com (via the Mirror's James Edwards).
However, his various altercations with UFC stars has clearly done little to put him off the sport.
Mayweather said his "beef" had always been with fellow boxers, and he is now planning to promote some MMA fights, per Thompson:
"If I was involved with MMA sports, then my beef would be with MMA guys. But I’m not involved in MMA sports, I don’t have no plans in getting involved as far as competing physical in MMA, but I do look forward to getting fighters and doing MMA fights in the future. And I’m talking about 2016."
Mayweather, 39, founded a promotional company, Mayweather Promotions, back in 2007, which currently works with numerous boxers.
Clearly he is now planning to expand his work into MMA, no doubt a decision that will cause further slanging matches in the future.
