10 Reasons Conor McGregor Vs. Floyd Mayweather Is More Likely Than You Think
3. It's The Biggest Fight The UFC Could Currently Put On
If they were able to produce it, McGregor vs. Mayweather would be the biggest fight the UFC could currently put on. Period.
Consider this: Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar are currently suspended. Ronda Rousey was embarrassed and exposed for the second straight fight at UFC 207. The CM Punk experiment failed. Georges St. Pierre is at an impasse with the UFC. The Diaz brothers have yet to return to action.
Conor McGregor is literally the only big draw they have left right now, until someone else emerges from the woodwork. Someone eventually will, but right now, it's the McGregor era.
Now consider who might fight him in the coming months, when he returns following the birth of his child. He was stripped of the featherweight title, and eventually Jose Aldo was promoted back to full featherweight champ. He has signaled he'd move up to lightweight for another shot at McGregor, but Mystic Mac already dropped him in a record 13 seconds. Does the general public care about that fight?
The winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 will be very deserving of a shot at McGregor's lightweight title, but neither is much of a name on their own. Nurmagomedov boats that all of Russia will support him, but the UFC has failed to establish a base in Russia, and PPV isn't available there. UFC events air on Russian TV, and right now, the UFC is in a dispute with the network that broadcasts its events.
That means there's McGregor vs. Mayweather... and little else that would bring the UFC to the next level.