Will Floyd Mayweather Have A 2018 UFC Fight? Conor McGregor Rematch Unlikely

Less than four months after beating Conor McGregor in the second-biggest boxing match of all time, Floyd Mayweather claimed he is being courted by the UFC. The seemingly retired boxer said that he has the option of fighting inside the octagon for more money than anyone in history.

What are the odds that Mayweather and McGregor will have a rematch in MMA?

“They just called me not too long ago and asked me to come back,” said Mayweather on a Periscope video, via FightHype.com. “I can come right back. If I want to, I can come right back to the UFC. I can go fight in the octagon – I can go and do a three or four-fight deal in the octagon and make $1 billion.”

It’s just about impossible to think that the UFC might pay Mayweather that much money to compete in the octagon. But considering McGregor shocked the sports world by actually making the jump to boxing to face one of the greatest fighters in history, can the idea of Mayweather someday entering the cage for an enormous payday be completely ruled out?

The oddsmakers don’t expect it to happen, though the odds might be better than you think. Bovada.lv gives Mayweather a +500 chance of competing in the UFC in 2018.

McGregor would be the logical opponent for Mayweather in such a scenario, though the boxer’s MMA debut wouldn’t necessarily have to be a rematch. Georges St-Pierre has stepped away from the UFC for the moment because he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, but his trainer believes the former two-division champion could look to fight Mayweather.

“I think Georges is gonna get better, get back in the gym,” coach Firas Zahabi told TSN. “He’s gonna feel his body out and see what he wants, what’s the most interesting, epic fight out there. Mayweather? McGregor? We need a mega-fight. Georges will come back for a big, exciting fight.”

Mayweather will almost certainly never fight in the UFC. McGregor could be done with the company, as well. UFC president Dana White has admitted that the lightweight champion might never defend his title.

McGregor reportedly made close to $100 million for fighting Mayweather on Aug. 26. The pay-per-view generated 4.3 million buys and more than $600 million in total revenue.

There might be a better chance that McGregor’s next fight is another boxing match, rather than an MMA fight. The Irish fighter stands to make more money in boxing, and Manny Pacquiao recently indicated that he could face McGregor in 2018.