Jeff Mayweather, the uncle of iconic retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., has launched a scathing attack on Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey and the UFC, accusing them of using his nephew’s name to boost their own profile.
During the rise to prominence of both Rousey and McGregor, both have been asked about the prospect of going up against the boxer. The former said she could beat Mayweather Jr. in a ruleless bout on Reddit, while the latter suggested he would “dismantle” the unbeaten fighter, per Donald McRae of the Guardian.
So perhaps it's no surprise that Mayweather, speaking with Percy Crawford of Fight Hype, has taken some joy in the Notorious' recent loss:
At the end of the day, the only thing a m-----------r care about is if you won or if you lost. Because if Conor McGregor would have f-----g won, oh my God, he would have been the greatest thing since f-----g ice cream. But since he lost, now they want to give him credit for going up; going up and getting his ass whooped. You don't get no credit for that. You chose to do that.
You accepted that man's challenge and talked plenty of s--t about him, then you got your ass whooped by him. You made fun of him teaching Jiu Jitsu classes to children and then got choked the f--k out.
Mayweather has also suggested the hype surrounding both Mayweather and Rousey is done with, insisting his nephew did not want to get dragged into these kinds of discussions:
Everybody listening to Dana White talking that stupid s--t about Ronda Rousey beating up men and now they jump on Conor McGregor's bandwagon, they don't got no m------------g wagon no more. That s--t is over with. …
Floyd has never ever said that he wanted to fight one of them. He never said, ‘I'll beat Ronda Rousey,’ or ‘I'll beat Conor McGregor.’ Like I said, they had they little moment of fame. McGregor's lasted almost a year and Rousey's lasted about a year and a half. That s--t is over with now.
While there was a lot of fantastical speculation about who would win in bouts between Mayweather and the two biggest stars in the UFC, such chatter has ceased as of late.
That’s primarily due to the fact that both McGregor and Rousey have suffered momentum sapping losses in their last two fights. As aforementioned he Irishman was choked out by Nate Diaz in his debut at welterweight at UFC 196, while Rousey was floored by Holly Holm last year at UFC 193.
It seems McGregor may well get an immediate opportunity to exact revenge on his conquerer, though, with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting reporting that they’re set for a rematch at UFC 200. Chamatkar Sandhu of MMA Junkie feels as though the Irishman could pursue different avenues:
I get why the UFC would want to have Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz headline UFC 200. I, like many, would personally prefer McGregor vs Edgar.
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) March 18, 2016
Rousey could also be in line for a return soon, as a clip from Uninterrupted showed her biting an apple; the former Bantamweight champion claimed after her defeat to Holm in November that it would take up to six months before she could eat one again, per Amati Winehouse of the MailOnline.
While there may be some truth to the claims made by Mayweather about fighters seeking to exploit the success of his nephew, Money has done little to calm any talk himself.
“Once again, I never said that the guy, Conor McGregor, that's his name?” was part of his response to a question when discussing the Irishman recently, per Damon Martin of FOX Sports. The boxer also infamously stated that “I don’t even know he is” when asked about Rousey in 2014 by BoxingScene.com (h/t James Dator of SB Nation).
The feuds have kept Mayweather Jr.’s name in the public domain well after his retirement too, so there’s little doubt the unbeaten star has also benefitted. After all, the UFC is constantly growing in stature and while there will always be comparisons between elite combat sports stars, the company is not in a position where it needs to piggyback on the boxer's image.
