GETTY Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor square off at the final Mayweather vs McGregor press conference
Mayweather, 41, hinted that he’s willing to try his hand at mixed martial arts in late January, much to the shock of many. The former five-weight world champion boxer’s apparent interest in having an MMA fight inevitably led to talk of a rematch with Conor McGregor, who he faced in a boxing match last August. The general consensus in the MMA world is that Mayweather would suffer an emphatic defeat if he were to share the Octagon with McGregor. 'Money' is well aware that he has his work cut out for him if he wants to fight in the UFC and is willing to spend several months learning the tools he needs to defend himself inside the cage.
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“It’ll probably need a little bit longer (than three months),” he told TMZ. "Even if it takes 6 to 8 months - whatever it takes. “We want to make sure that everything is done correctly, and everything is done the right way." Although he’s aware he needs to train for several months before taking his first MMA fight, Mayweather believes he already possesses good enough wrestling skills to prevent being taken down.
We want to make sure that everything is done correctly Floyd Mayweather on how long he'll train in MMA before fighting
“I can wrestle. My wrestling game is not that bad," he said. "On a scale from one to 10, I would say it’s probably a seven. “We can take it up to a nine, if possible. Of course my hand game, on a scale of one to 10, it’s 100. "The kicking game, on a scale from one to 10, it’s probably a four. We have to tweak a few things to take things to the next level.”
GETTY Floyd Mayweather is willing to train for as long as it takes to become adept at mixed martial arts
Mayweather has yet to apply for a license to compete in mixed martial arts, which he must obtain before he can even contemplate rematching McGregor. “Not yet, not yet,” he said when asked if he’d acquired an MMA license. “But everything takes time. “Eventually, we're gonna apply for the license, and hopefully we can fight.”
GETTY Conor McGregor hasn't set foot inside the Octagon in 16 months