FOX Sports UFC Analysts React To Mayweather vs. McGregor

| June 14, 2017 | 0 Comentarios/ Comments

Los Angeles – FOX Sports UFC analysts and hosts react to the Mayweather vs. McGregor announcement today. Plus, on UFC TONIGHT, host Kenny Florian, guest host Tyron Woodley and Karyn Bryant react to the Mayweather vs. McGregor news and catch up with UFC president Dana White and Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole.

UFC TONIGHT host Kenny Florian on Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor and what this means for McGregor: “I’m still trying to figure out what dimension we’re in. We’ve never seen anything like this. Conor McGregor has done some amazing things in mixed martial arts. He’s a two weight champion in the UFC, he’s broken UFC PPV records, and now he’s fighting the best boxer in our generation in Floyd. This is amazing.”

UFC TONIGHT guest host Tyron Woodley on Mayweather vs. McGregor: “I told you. All the barbershop fans who said it wasn’t going to happen, this is a larger than life opportunity. It would be crazy for this fight to not happen. I’m excited to watch it from an entertainment standpoint, a competitive standpoint and for a legacy standpoint. This is an amazing opportunity for both these guys.”

Woodley on if McGregor fights in the UFC again after this: “I think it depends on what happens in the fight. If he knocks out Floyd, they’ll fight again in a boxing match. If he loses, then no shame in his game. He’ll come back and fight in the UFC.”
Florian on the stakes for McGregor: “If you beat Floyd, you retired the best boxer of all time. If Floyd makes Conor look silly, it might be bad for Conor. But it’s not Conor’s sport. He doesn’t have much to lose. If he gets knocked out in two minutes, it could hurt his brand. But if he wins, I don’t know if we’ll ever see him again.”

Florian on if this will help expose more people to MMA: “This is an opportunity for more people to learn about MMA and the UFC. Plus, this opens up a whole new landscape for fighters. For the potential. It’ll show people it is possible to get a 100-million-dollar payday.”

Woodley on McGregor being an underdog: “Conor and I have had our differences, but at that money, I’ll put money down on his. This kid does not care. He has an unconventional style.”

Florian on if McGregor has an advantage: “The biggest thing Conor has is he doesn’t move like a boxer. Boxers are used to fighting boxers. So those first three to six minutes might be difficult for Floyd. He’s experienced, but boxers move very different.”

Woodley on Mayweather’s experience: “Floyd changes his styles in fights and adapts quickly. He has four or five styles. He might come out aggressive. Conor has never seen a boxer with the ability to make the adjustments. Guys who are aggressive toward Floyd, he makes them miss and miss badly.”

VIDEO: Does Tyron Woodley have a point by saying Conor McGregor could keep boxing even after fighting Floyd Mayweather?

VIDEO: How will Conor McGregor adjust to fighting a boxer as elite at Floyd Mayweather? Tyron Woodley and Kenny Florian discuss.

FOX UFC Hosts and Analysts React to the News:

FOX Sports UFC analyst Brian Stann: “Conor is a special athlete and entertainer. I’m happy for him to get this tremendous opportunity. He has earned it. I am also anxious for this event to be over so the UFC lightweight champion can face the top contenders in MMA’s most talented division.”

FOX Sports UFC analyst Gilbert Melendez: “This is a huge day for combat sports. For the first time ever an MMA/UFC champion will cross over into the world of boxing and challenge arguably the best boxer of our time. It’s a risk, it’s dangerous and I want to see it. Can Conor win? Can he even touch Floyd? Most likely not, but you can’t deny Conor has power in his left and I want to see what happens if it lands. At the end of the day, it’s the entertainment business and this is the Money Fight.”

FOX Sports UFC analyst Rashad Evans: “I think this fight is amazing. Not so much that I think it will be competitively close, but that two of the best combat sports have been able to make this fight happen. Mayweather is arguably the greatest boxer of all time going against McGregor, who has such a strong belief in himself that it seems he manifests his victories as if he has some sort of magical power. Win, lose or draw, I finally and forever become a true McGregor fan because he continues to challenge himself and the norms of society.”

FOX Sports UFC host Todd Grisham: “Am I excited for the fight? Yes! Will it probably be a boring, one-sided fight? Yes! But who cares? The buildup will be amazing and it will be a fight we will remember forever, no matter what happens. I can’t wait.”

FOX Sports UFC analyst Yves Edwards: “Conor McGregor is making his boxing debut in what could be the biggest fight in boxing’s history. That’s a testament to his star power. However, it’s a boxing match and as fantastic as Conor has been, I’m taking Mayweather.”

FOX Sports UFC analyst Miesha Tate: “It will be interesting to see how this thing plays out. Clearly Floyd is the better boxer, but what no one is taking into account is just how good Conor is at the mental game.”

UFC play-by-play announcer Jon Anik: “What a time to be alive! It is absolutely remarkable that Conor McGregor, in a relatively short amount of time, became the biggest money fight for Floyd Mayweather. From Conor’s standpoint, I like the fact that the fight is at 154 pounds, which is right in his wheelhouse. I’m not saying he’s going to win the fight, but I certainly will be betting on him and give him a better chance than most.”

UFC president Dana White on details of the fight: “It’ll be at 154 pounds, 12 rounds in a boxing ring and take place August 26 at the T-Mobile Arena. It’ll be 10-ounce gloves. Showtime has the deal with Floyd.”

White on if this will be the biggest fight in combat sports ever: “It’s the biggest fight in combat sports and biggest payday ever. All sides are happy with the deal.”

White on if McGregor will fight in the UFC again: “He’s one of these guys, the reason he has so much success is, other than winning fights, he’s the guy willing to fight anyone at any time. He’s telling me he’ll knock Floyd out and then he’ll turn around and fight again in the UFC before the end of the year.”

White on if this will break the PPV record: “I think this breaks the record in US, the UK, Australia and Canada, too. Floyd vs. Pacquiao did four million and rising, because with a pay-per-view, the buys keep rolling in for years.”

White on Oscar De La Hoya’s negative comments about this fight: “Why do you go out and tell people to not buy the fight? That’s crazy. I’m a fight fan and when you’re a fight fan, you want to see a great fight. We’ve got a ton of great fights coming up at the end of this year. GSP is coming back, Jon Jones is going to fight, and boxing has great fights coming, too. It’s a great end of the year for fight fans. I encourage everyone to watch the fights. And you should probably buy GGG vs Canelo, too. That will be a great fight. Oscar is out of his mind telling people to not buy this. I’ve known him for a long time, but what an absolute straight-up hater.”

White on what shoulder programming will be produced to promote the fight: “Showtime is going to put on shows leading up to the fight because they have Mayweather under contract. We’ll do Embedded series leading up to it and we’re coming up with other plans on what we’ll do.”

White on the UFC’s involvement in the fight: “None. Mayweather Promotions will build the card and Showtime will do the production. When you have great fights, the money comes with all that. The one thing I care about, that when people walk away from spending money on a night, you walk away satisfied. Conor McGregor will go in, go after Floyd and will try to knock him out. And if that’s the case, the money is part of the deal.”

VIDEO: Interview: UFC President Dana White on the Mayweather vs. McGregor deal

Kevin Iole, Yahoo Sports, on how the deal came together: “This is one that you can thank social media for and this picked up a life on its own on social media. Then people saw the response and the media was into it and the fan base were energized and it went from there. Dana White and Al Haymon started talking in January and they moved on here. When you’re talking nine-digit pursues, you find a way to get it done.”

Iole on the impact of this fight: “This fight really hurts the Canelo-GGG fight. That fight should have been made earlier this year. Now he’s turning around what should be a two-million PPV buys fight, and you drop this in on top of it, and it will affect that.”

Iole on what this fight means for mixed martial arts and boxing: “It tells you about what a huge international star Conor McGregor is. If he was doing 600,000 buys, it wouldn’t mean anything to Floyd. But he’s doing over a million buys and selling out arenas and that got Mayweather there. Boxing is in a good place right now.”

Iole on if he thinks Mayweather is at a disadvantage at 154 pounds: “I don’t. I think Floyd is the greatest fighter ever. Floyd knows how to fight big guys and power punches. Conor has a big disadvantage because he’s never boxed. It’s like baseball and softball. MMA is more complex sport, but the art of boxing isn’t what MMA fighters train at and Floyd was training boxing since he was 18 months old.”

Iole’s prediction for this PPV: “I think it’s a three-and-half million to four-million, and could get to four-and-a-half million pay-per-view buys.”

VIDEO: Timeline: How did we finally get here for Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor? Let’s take a look at the timeline of events!

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