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By: Sean Crose
ESPN, SN Sports, and undoubtedly other outlets have been talking, as it were. The subject? Mayweather-McGregor. No, you haven’t stepped into a time machine, and it isn’t 2017. You’re right here, in September of 2018. And if you thought the Mayweather-McGregor silliness ended with their insanely lucrative novelty fight last year, well, it looks like you’re mistaken. The two have been trading jabs on Twitter, you see. What’s more, McGregor, who was stopped by Mayweather in last year’s bout, has made it more than clear he wants another shot at the pound for pound great.
First, though, McGregor has to get by an undefeated and feared rival in his home sport of mixed martial arts. Khabib Nurmagomedov is the unbeaten UFC lightweight champion of the world and a notable, high energy wrestler. He and McGregor will be crossing swords this October in Vegas in a fight a considerable percentage of UFC followers expect McGregor to actually lose. The Irishman has, if you include the Mayweather bout, lost two of his last four professional contests. What’s more, some feel he should have lost his UFC rematch against Nate Diaz in 2016, as well (McGregor lost their first war by submission). Add that to the fact the UFCs biggest star hasn’t entered a professional contest in over a year, and it’s obvious there’s questions that await answers.
Should McGregor win against Nurmagomedov in the fall, however, people may start calling for a rematch with his most famous opponent in earnest. It might make sense to Mayweather and McGregor to fight again – at least to Mayweather and McGregor. Mayweather would still probably win and even if he lost, who could blame him at his age and activity level? As for McGregor – well, let’s face it, the guy has been in some real wars. His body took a ton of wear and tear in his two matches against the surly Diaz. What’s more, an unspoken aspect of the Mayweather-McGregor fight was the fact that Mayweather dished out a whole lot of head trauma to his novice foe that night. McGregor endured quite a beating from Mayweather, make no mistake about it. And a person can only suffer so much damage (or outside the ring/cage antics) before it all really starts to take it’s toll. Sooner or later, it may be wise to just cash in.
So maybe a second fight with the great Mayweather does indeed make all the sense in the world to those involved. That’s not the case for others, though. Once was surely enough as far as many are concerned, thanks very much. Not that the first match didn’t turn out to be kind of fun. McGregor did fine, all things considered, and Mayweather broke what seemed to be his own rules by making things exciting. Still, the collective groan can already be heard saying “let it go already.” There’s undoubtedly millions who would pay to see Mayweather and McGregor do it all over again, however, for a hundred dollars or so a pop on pay per view.
Which is why it might be wise not to write this rematch off as something that’s never going to happen.
