The biggest cross-discipline match-up in the history of combat sports was confirmed today as UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and long-time boxing pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. have agreed terms on their long talked about meeting.
The bout between MMA fighter McGregor and boxer Mayweather Jr. will take place under the regular Queensbury boxing ruleset on August 26th 2017.
UFC president Dana White told ESPN SportsCenter that the bout will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be contested at 154lbs.
Dana White on SportsCenter says Mayweather vs. McGregor will be at T-Mobile Arena and at 154 pounds.
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) June 14, 2017
McGregor shot to fame in the MMA world after entering the UFC as a two-division champion in Cage Warriors. Within six fights he was the UFC’s interim featherweight champion after beating Chad Mendes and became the undisputed champion a fight later when he ended Jose Aldo’s 9-year unbeaten streak in just 13 seconds.
Two blockbuster fights with Nathan Diaz followed that at welterweight, as McGregor lost the first and won the second before he stepped down to lightweight to become the first ever concurrent two-division UFC champion by dismantling veteran Eddie Alvarez inside two rounds. McGregor is currently ranked at #2 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings.
Like McGregor, Mayweather is also highly decorated in his field. Having entered the professional boxing ranks following the 1996 summer Olympics where he was robbed of a chance at gold by the judges, Mayweather has beaten everyone that has come before him. Names like Zab Judah, Sharmba Mitchell, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton made Mayweather a megastar who would go on to have the most bought fight in pay-per-view history against Filipino great Manny Pacquiao in 2015.
Later that year Mayweather retired a 5-weight world champion with a record of 49-0 but has now decided to look for the half century against MMA’s biggest ever star.
The bout was first reported as set by Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports and was confirmed by Mayweather and McGregor on social media.
You can watch UFC President Dana White talking details of the bout on ESPN’s SportsCenter here.
IT'S OFFICIAL!!! https://t.co/ND07Ixugs2 pic.twitter.com/JpqFW5WbcB
— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) June 14, 2017
THE FIGHT IS ON. pic.twitter.com/KhW0u3jRft
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 14, 2017