Floyd Mayweather went on the PBD Podcast this week and accused Conor McGregor of a crime so heinous I’m shocked Interpol hasn’t been looped in. Grand theft swag. Apparently the Irishman walked out of T-Mobile Arena in 2017 with Floyd’s entire personality stuffed in his trunks and drove it back to the UFC like a getaway car.
The host brought up the idea that McGregor might rank among the best promoters ever, and Floyd took it personally. “You mean the guy that took my whole swag and took it over there to the UFC?” Mayweather said. A few minutes later came the pitch: “Actually, I think me and Conor McGregor may lock up again. Yeah, absolutely.”
There it is. The grievance and the invoice, delivered in the same podcast appearance.
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A feud with no feud in it
My favorite part of this so-called beef is that the guy who got robbed says he’s fine. Asked whether he and McGregor are on good terms, Mayweather told the podcast, “I’m not really upset with anyone.” He added that McGregor is “not my friend,” that he doesn’t have to see him, and that he’d happily sit down to dinner if that’s what it takes to put a fight together. Then the kicker: “I could care less, I don’t need to be friends with anyone.”
So let me get this straight. Floyd’s swag was stolen, he isn’t upset about it, he doesn’t care, and he’d like to discuss it over a steak with a contract on the table. That’s a business proposal wearing a fake mustache.
The swag claim itself falls apart the second you look at the calendar. McGregor walked into that 2017 fight as a two-division UFC champion and, per MMA Fighting, the biggest star in the promotion’s history. He also, by most accounts of that world tour, outtalked Floyd on more than a few nights. Getting out-trash-talked on your own promotional tour and then filing a copyright claim nine years later is a bold strategy.
Where Floyd does have a point is the money. McGregor’s highest disclosed UFC check was $3 million for the 2016 Nate Diaz rematch. His disclosed purse against Mayweather was $30 million, and both men likely cleared far more once the accounting shook out. Floyd says he made around $300 million and that McGregor “ate good.” Fair. But a bigger paycheck is a bigger paycheck. Calling it stolen swag is how a 50-0 legend dresses up a request for one more payday as a grudge.
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Look at the timing
McGregor is 38, and the last time we saw him in a cage was UFC 329 in July, when his comeback against Max Holloway ended in 69 seconds with a clearly compromised McGregor getting saved by referee Mike Beltran. It was his first fight since 2021. He’s now sidelined with the knee injury from that night, and he has one fight left on his UFC contract that he’s said he wants to finish in 2027.
And Floyd’s response to all that? He brought up the leg injury from the Poirier fight like a heckler. “He didn’t break his hand, he broke his foot, right?” Mayweather said. Cute. Also a pretty strong tell that he’d love to box a guy whose lower body is held together with tape.
Now look at Floyd’s year. Bloody Elbow notes that fans are still waiting on the Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao rematch Netflix announced earlier this year, and that several matchups featuring Money have been postponed or scrapped entirely. He’s been linked to Ryan Garcia. MMA Mania flat out pointed to his current financial situation as context for why he’d want to hit this bank again. When your big fights keep evaporating, you go back to the one that printed more than half a billion dollars and try the PIN again.
The best case for it, and why it flops
The strongest argument for a rematch is the cash register. The first one did monster numbers, and MMA Fighting was literally polling fans on X within half an hour of the story going up, asking how interested they’d be on a scale of 1-10. People will click. Some will buy.
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But the first fight sold a mystery. Could the UFC’s loudest man touch the best defensive boxer of his generation? We got the answer: McGregor stole a few early rounds and Floyd stopped him in Round 10. Nobody needs a sequel to a question that’s been settled for nine years, especially one starring a guy coming off a 69-second loss on a bad knee. Even Dana White, who would get a piece of this, told MMA Mania there was “nothing about the Mayweather fight” that makes him think a do-over ends differently. When Dana White passes on a money fight, the money fight is in rough shape.
The guy Floyd needs doesn’t even sound interested in boxing. Last month McGregor talked about how much he can’t wait to fight bare knuckle once his UFC deal is done, and he’s a part-owner of BKFC. If Floyd wants his swag back, he can sit at that dinner table in 2027 and ask for it. I’d bring my own wallet.
