Conor McGregor is sure he will avenge his infamous loss to Floyd Mayweather in their 2017 boxing crossover bout after revealing he was “messing around” before the fight.
“Most certainly, I’d like to rematch Floyd,” McGregor (professional MMA record 21-4) told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani ahead of his UFC comeback against Donald Cerrone this weekend.
“I had 10 weeks to prepare for the Floyd fight. Before that I was messing around again. Now I’m fully focused to we’ll see what happens.”
The 31-year-old Irishman lost to Mayweather (professional boxing record 50-0) via 10th-round TKO in their record-breaking pay-per-view event. McGregor reflected on his mistakes he made during his boxing debut.
“I done phenomenal in that bout. The only reason I lost was because I prepared for a back-footed … style of opponent. And when the fight was like that I was picking him apart.
“Then he came forward and started pressing and I wasn’t sinking into my shots like I am now with my boxing coach under my belt, [who] are drilling specific boxing things into me again,” said McGregor.
The former UFC double champion also insisted that Mayweather would never cross into the MMA realm despite saying so in the past.
“He’s not going to do a mixed martial arts bout like he said. It was supposed to be me boxing him and then we’ll do a mixed martial arts bout. That was what was said and it came out of his mouth as well. It was not written but it was a verbal agreement and, obviously, that’s not gonna happen,” McGregor said.
“I’m not even gonna push him on that either. But I’d like to box him, I think that would be a good rematch.”
Last year, Mayweather was seen sitting courtside at an NBA game with UFC president Dana While. The pair had reached a “verbal agreement” on a 2020 event, with Mayweather soon announcing his comeback to combat sports.
White is spearheading the promotion’s Zuffa Boxing venture expected to launch later this year, while Mayweather promotes under his own Mayweather Promotions and Showtime Boxing.
“There’s definitely been talk – not [from me] to him, but … it was a good noisemaker for them,” McGregor said. “They’re good people to do business with, Showtime and Floyd, so [the fight could happen this year] you never know.
“It was a good inner conversation you have with a man when you fight them. It was great to be in there with Floyd – he’s a crafty veteran. You don’t get 50 pro wins and an extensive amateur career [for nothing]. I look forward to doing it again. It’s gonna happen again.”
McGregor also expressed interest in “multiple” boxing fights, such as with Manny Pacquiao and Paulie Malignaggi, with the aim of winning a world title.