Conor McGregor knows he came up short against Floyd Mayweather when the two met in a boxing match back in August. He also knows that — with the knowledge he learned in that contest — he’d love another go.
Speaking at ‘An Evening With Conor McGregor’ event in Glasgow this evening, McGregor noted that the defeat had left a sour taste in his mouth, particularly after his noted early success in the contest against the undefeated boxer.
“What’s sickening me is that the little motherfucker is retired now,” McGregor said (H/T to Peter Carroll of MMAFighting). “I know if I went another go with him, under boxing rules, I’d get that win. I know that. I know by the feeling of him in the first fight. He had to change his whole approach. He fought completely different than he ever fought. He couldn’t figure out what I was doing early on.
“With the lessons I learned from that first fight, if I had another go now, I’d get him. At the same time, he’s 50-0 and he’s getting on, I’m not gonna start calling him out. I’m happy to see a fighter [do well]. It’s a dangerous game we’re in. I’m not gonna start calling him out. I’ll sit back and wait and I’ll fight.”
It’s important to note that Mayweather repeatedly stated that his boxing bout against McGregor was his last. At 50-0, Mayweather’s record is up there with the best in the sport, and at 40 years of age, it could well prove that he’s truly done with competition.
From McGregor’s perspective though, there’s something of an x factor — Mayweather’s infamous spending habits.
“Let’s see how he handles this round of money,” McGregor said. “I might get the phone call again and we may do it again. Originally, he said an MMA fight next. He was talking about an MMA fight next. That’s what he said before the fight. So, what’s he going to do? Does he want another fight? In my head I’m thinking, get one of these boxing guys to come over into my world now.”
But while the defeat may sting, the Irishman refuses to make any excuses.
“I got beat. I got beat under that rule set. I’m not going to start giving off like that. I accepted the rules, and I was beat in the rules,” he said. “[But] make no mistake, every time I took his back in that fucking fight and the referee separated us, in a real fight it’s done right there. That was the part for me that I had to get over the most.
“I almost feel like I sold myself out. I put so many skills and so many shots in my back pocket for a pay check and big event and that’s been messing with my head a little bit.”
Nonetheless, should an opportunity arise for the rematch, regardless of the venue, you can best believe McGregor will be saying yes.
“I’m thinking, the tax bill of this last fight, the tax bill off his previous bill, and then his good investments, I think I could be getting a call anytime soon to go again,” McGregor said.
“And I fucking want to.”
