In recent weeks, Conor McGregor has been rallying for a rematch with undefeated boxing champ Floyd Mayweather. Now, the former two-division champion is hoping to reignite their rivalry inside of the boxing ring.
In his latest series of tweets, McGregor called for the rematch and expressed his desire to return to the ring.
“I challenge Juan Manuel Mayweather to a rematch,” McGregor wrote on social media. “Under the tutelage of my old club. We’ll see then mate. Chasing a man around a ring for a few rounds for a guaranteed couple hundred mil? I’ll let people say I got slapped for that money any day.”
The tweet comes at a time that many thought the brash Irishman could be returning to mixed martial arts against current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Prior to his loss to Nurmagomedov, McGregor was on a two-fight winning streak with a welterweight bout victory over Nate Diaz and a Performance of the Night against Eddie Alvarez to claim the 155-pound title on November 12, 2016. However, McGregor was later stripped of the title due to inactivity — he was previously stripped of the featherweight belt after winning the lightweight crown.
Khabib, meanwhile, advanced to 27-0 in his professional career with his win over McGregor. His 27 consecutive wins gives him the longest winning streak in all of mixed martial arts. Khabib first won the vacant lightweight championship on April 7, 2018 at UFC 223 when he scored a dominant decision win over Al Iaquinta in Brooklyn, New York. He became the first Russian to win a UFC title. The submission victory over McGregor was his first title defense.
McGregor has called for a rematch with Nurmagomedov and has also hinted that he would like to rematch Floyd Mayweather Jr. inside of the boxing ring. Whether any of those bouts was actually in the works is anyone’s guess, but they seem to be the only bouts that have piqued the brash Irishman’s interest since he began discussing a return to combat sports following his flurry of legal issues and suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his post-UFC 229 bout with Nurmagomedov and his team.