Floyd Mayweather Confident in His MMA Skills, Believes UFC Deal Will Happen
Floyd Mayweather sounds awfully confident that he will be fighting in the UFC sooner rather than later.
The 41-year old retired boxer has been teasing a crossover into mixed martial arts for several months, but now it appears that he's actually mapping out a plan to make it happen.
Of course, Mayweather needs to know he's getting paid, but he seems to believe that the UFC will come around with the right kind of deal to make his transition to MMA complete.
“It's all about presenting the right numbers. Of course, they’re going to present the right numbers and we going to make it happen,” Mayweather said when speaking to TMZ.
As far as his skills go, Mayweather has already spoken to UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley about working together to help him prepare for an eventual moved into MMA.
“I’m going to start [training] soon,” Mayweather said. “We’ve been texting back and forth. We talked a couple times so we’re going to start working out real soon. With everything you've got to make adjustments, so it's probably going to be a little bit difficult but it is what it is.
“I can’t overlook or knock any MMA guy. Tyron is unbelievable – unbelievable fighter, tough competitor. Conor McGregor, he’s a tough competitor, a hell of a fighter. There’s a lot of tough, rugged guys out there in the MMA. I can’t overlook or disrespect those guys.”
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While Mayweather has spent most of his life in the boxing ring, he's apparently picked up some wrestling skills that no one ever knew about until now.
Add to that, Mayweather doesn't overrate his ability to deal with the kicking game in MMA, which is why he knows that's one area he has to focus on if he's actually going to fight in the UFC.
How Soon Before Floyd Mayweather is UFC Ready?
Woodley said that he could get Mayweather ready for a fight inside three months but even Mayweather knows he'll probably need more time than that.
“I’ll probably need a little bit longer [than three months],” Mayweather said. “A little bit longer. Even if it takes six to eight months, whatever it takes, we just want to make sure everything is done correctly, and everything is done the right way.
“I can wrestle. My wrestling game is not that bad. On a scale from one to 10, I would say it’s probably a seven. I think 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.”
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There's no timeline for Mayweather to make a decision on when he would fight in the UFC because that's not a conversation he's had just yet. By all accounts, however, Mayweather is serious about making an attempt to crossover from boxing to MMA.
“I can't really say,” Mayweather responded when asked about a date for his debut. “Have a talk with my team, speak with my father and then see how it's going to play out.”
