It looks like Floyd Mayweather Jr. wasn't trolling after-all when he took to Instagram earlier in the year with a series of photos and video clips that invoked mixed martial arts imagery. UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley says he got a chance to connect with The Money Team honcho at an NBA All-Star weekend party hosted by Michael Jordan, and that the two of them wound up exchanging numbers after discussing the possibility of training for a potential bout in the Octagon.
"Floyd Mayweather is interested in taking an MMA bout, maybe a few of ’em. So, who better than ‘The Chosen One’ to teach him the ropes on how we get off the ropes and get in the cage?” Woodley opened up Friday's episode of TMZ's The Hollywood Beatdown, by saying. He then went on to recall exactly how their conversation unfolded, before getting specific about what the next steps are for them in the gym. “We started chatting about training MMA and we decided let’s connect, let’s hook up in Vegas and do some training and get him ready for MMA,” he said.
Before closing out the segment on a possible crossover for the retired boxing great, Woodley was sure to double down and insist that fans were hearing right if what they thought they had just heard was that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is looking to break into the UFC. "We already getting it set up,” were his words exactly.
Woodley said it would only take three weeks to teach Floyd how to read for kicks and to block them when they come his way. He doesn't imagine the 41-year-old would risk fighting someone with high expertise in kicking or a ground game, but said he actually doesn't see Conor McGregor as a bad match-up for him. In three months time Floyd could be prepared, if he puts in the time, Woodley said.
