Did Conor McGregor Get Knocked Out Training For Floyd Mayweather Fight?

As Conor McGregor prepares for his Aug. 26 super-fight with Floyd Mayweather, there have been plenty of rumors floating around regarding his training. The latest bit of news comes from former welterweight boxing champion Jessie Vargas, who claimed that McGregor was knocked out in a sparring session.

"He got knocked out in sparring already, man!" Vargas told Villainfy Media. “The boxing world is small; it's a small circle.”

READ: Floyd Mayweather Calls Out Conor McGregor For “Disrespecting Black Women”

McGregor has no professional boxing matches on his resume, so it isn’t exactly surprising when there is an unflattering report regarding his prowess inside the ring. Former IBO welterweight champion Chris van Heerden, who sparred with McGregor before the fight was made official, indicated that Mayweather will embarrass the UFC lightweight champion when they finally meet.

In his first-ever fight, McGregor stands little chance to defeat the greatest boxer of his generation, one that’s never lost in 49 career bouts. But Mayweather isn’t overlooking McGregor, and he’s skeptical concerning any rumors about what McGregor has done in the gym.

“My thing basically is like this: If I ain’t seen no footage, I don’t believe it,” Mayweather told FightHype.com. “Me and Jessie Vargas are in communication. We’re talking about working together with Mayweather Promotions. I would love to work with Jessie Vargas. We’ve been communicating. But I can’t—everything is rumors until I see it. I’m the type of person, I have to visually see it with my own eyes.”

McGregor’s camp flat out denied the rumor. It appeared that Vargas said former welterweight champion Brandon Rios is the one that sent McGregor to the canvas, and the management team for the MMA star told Telegraph Sport that McGregor has never sparred with the boxer.

Brandon Rios told ES News that he’s never even spoken with McGregor, saying, “The world's gone crazy.”

“My phone's been blowing up. I've been getting text messages and calls about this. I've never met McGregor, and I don't know who he is.”

Former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi has confirmed that he will be working with McGregor as he gets set for the fight, which is less than six weeks away. Making an appearance on “The MMA Hour,” Malignaggi admitted that there’s a slim chance McGregor will be able to pull off the upset and leave Las Vegas with a victory.

"I don't think you can say that Conor can win the fight, you look for him to have moments," Malignaggi said.

"If he can get Floyd's attention, maybe land a shot or a combination; if he can set Floyd traps and he has a moment here or there, sometimes a moment becomes a bigger moment and sometimes that ends the fight.”

READ: How Many PPV Buys Will Mayweather vs. McGregor Do?

Much has been made of Conor’s training, as he gets sets to compete in what will likely be the biggest fight of all time. It’s expected by many to sell more pay-per-views than Mayweather’s fight with Manny Pacquiao on May 2, 2015.

Mayweather-Pacquiao set a record with 4.6 million PPV buys, and some estimates indicate that Mayweather-McGregor could surpass five million buys.