Mayweather opens as underdog in MMA rematch with McGregor

The odds will be stacked against Floyd Mayweather Jr. should he decide to step into Conor McGregor’s world for a rematch of their blockbuster 2017 boxing match.

With recent rumors of Mayweather’s intention to at least start training in mixed martial arts, the Westgate sports book has posted a number on a potential UFC bout between Mayweather and McGregor.

It’s not pretty for Mayweather.

McGregor opened as a minus-1,000 favorite over Mayweather, with the price on the boxer netting bettors a plus-650 payback.

The fight must take place by Sept. 9, 2019, and be contested under mixed martial arts rules for the wager to be in effect.

“I think the price should be much higher, but the public loves to back the underdog in these things so there’s no need to set it real high,” said Westgate sports book manager John Murray. “I more or less consider the fight to be a ridiculous spectacle, but the bottom line is it would generate more interest and do a bigger handle than any other UFC or boxing match on the horizon.”

McGregor, who has held both the featherweight and lightweight titles in the UFC, was knocked out by Mayweather when they stepped in the boxing ring.

Mayweather has been teasing a potential deal for months and took the flirtation to a new level this weekend when he told TMZ he plans to apply for a license to compete as a professional mixed martial artist.

He previously said he will soon begin training with UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in order to sharpen his skills.

“Even if it takes six to eight months — whatever it takes,” Mayweather said. “We want to make sure that everything is done correctly.”

The comments come on the heels of Mayweather’s comments last week that drew widespread mockery from the MMA community on Twitter for his evaluation of his grappling skills.

“I can wrestle,” he said. “My wrestling game is not that bad. On a scale from one to 10, I would say it’s probably a seven. We can take it up to a nine, if possible. Of course my hand game, on a scale of one to 10, it’s 100. The kicking game, on a scale from one to 10, it’s probably a four. We have to tweak a few things to take things to the next level.”

The opening number was holding steady on Monday afternoon after it was posted around 10:30 a.m. Mayweather had opened at more than a minus-2,000 for the boxing match before being bet all the way down to around minus-500 at close.

Of course, there is no guarantee McGregor would be Mayweather’s opponent should he even pursue a fight in the UFC.

McGregor himself has not competed in the organization since September 2016. UFC president Dana White told the BBC this week he hopes to see him back in the cage in August or September.

His preference would be for McGregor to fight the winner of next month’s lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champ Tony Ferguson.

Werdum ‘sad’ after loss

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum issued a statement on social media expressing disappointment in his knockout loss to Alexander Volkov on the UFC Fight Night 127 card in London over the weekend.

“I would like to thank everyone who cheered for me, who sent me messages of support and who are by my side in this difficult moment which is a defeat,” he said after he was knocked out in the fourth round. “I am sad but I keep my head up with the certainty that life is made and mistakes and corrections and that the most important of this trajectory is how we rise from a fall.”

The 40-year-old Brazilian had won three of four fights since losing the belt and believed he was on the verge of another title shot.

Volkov has won all four fights since signing in the UFC and has championship aspirations of his own.

“I feel great,” he said. “This is the best feeling. Fabricio is a big name in the sport so this means that now, I am a huge name too. Now, I am looking for a title shot for sure so maybe it will happen very soon. I want a title shot in Russia though. That is what I really want.”

Also on the card, Jan Blachowicz earned a unanimous decision over light heavyweight Jimi Manuwa and bantamweight prospect Tom Duquesnoy got back on track with a unanimous-decision win over Terrion Ware.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.