Floyd Mayweather Says There’s a 50/50 Chance He Fights in MMA This Year

Floyd Mayweather says that the odds are even that he competes in an MMA bout in 2018. Mayweather spoke with FightHype and said that he’s begun work on a potential MMA bout. Highlights are below (per MMAjunkie):

On getting started in preparing for a fight: “I started training already. Not the physical part – endurance, as far as moving around. So far, I’ve started running…I’m thinking about fighting in the MMA, I’ve thought about it…I started training in Miami. I look forward to fighting probably by the end of the year. We don’t know. Right now it’s a 50-50 (chance), not a hundred percent. But we’ve started training.”

On working with Tyron Woodley: “Me and Woodley have spoke to each other on numerous occasions. We talked. We said we’re going to start working out, as far as he’s got a great hand game already. I’m going to be working with different guys in the jiu-jitsu world. My wrestling game, I’m going to be working with guys with the wrestling. My kicking game, I’m going to be working with guys for the kicking game. Before I get in the octagon, I’ve got to be well rounded, all around the board.”

On not believing he’ll need to change much up: “Fighting is not nothing new for me. Fighting barefoot is something new, but fighting is nothing new for me. The thing is this — (say I’m) fighting a guy that has some unbelievable jiu-jitsu skills, unbelievable wrestling skills, but the thing is this: His chances of getting to me, I mean, the percentage of his chances getting to me to lock up with me, he has to come in first. But he may lock up with me, and he may get wrapped up in certain ways. You don’t know how things could play out or how things could happen. With MMA, anything can happen. It’s brutal. It’s very, very brutal.”

On where he stands in the sport already: “I know right now I’m the biggest name in MMA. Hands down, I know this. And the second biggest name is Conor McGregor.”

On whether he’ll fight McGregor: “I can’t say right now. I can’t really say how things are going to play out. I’m a numbers man. I’m all about the numbers…Conor McGregor, tough, vicious competitor. Of course, just like he feels he got dynamite hands with the 4-ounce gloves on, I feel like I got dynamite power with the 4-ounce gloves on.”

On fighting at featherweight: “It’d be hard for me and Conor McGregor to fight, because if I was to fight in the MMA, I would have to fight at 145 (pounds). The weight class I would fight at is 145. … In MMA it would be totally different, because we don’t have no shoes on, and with 4-ounce gloves on, you think I’m fast with 8-ounce gloves on, imagine how fast I’d be with 4-ounce gloves on.”