Abu Dhabi sports journalist Omar Al Raisi caused a bit of stir when he tweeted about Floyd Mayweather’s plans of having a fight in the UFC against Conor McGregor under modified rules.
.@FloydMayweather will fight @TheNotoriousMMA in the octagon. With 4 ounce gloves, no shoes, 5-five minute rounds in 155 division.
No kicks, no take downs, no elbows, no knees. Certain things will be allowed like the clinch. pic.twitter.com/Gmv5koAG00
— Omar Al Raisi (@Dantani) April 8, 2018
After media got wind of Al Raisi’s tweets, he then backtracked a bit and clarified that nothing has been signed.
Let me clarify. Nothing is approved or signed. The modified rules MMA fight is something that has been discussed.
No one has an interest for another boxing bout & we all know Floyd won't jump into a full MMA fight.
Modified rules generates interest and Conor has better chances pic.twitter.com/Mm0OzfPTbY
— Omar Al Raisi (@Dantani) April 10, 2018
UFC President Dana White immediately got feedback from MMA fans and denied any rumours about a modified MMA bout.
None of that is even close to true. Dumbest shit i have ever heard.
— danawhite (@danawhite) April 10, 2018
“None of that is even close to true. Dumbest sh*t I have ever heard,” responded White to a fan.
Al Raisi was a guest on SiriusXM’s and gave more clarification about his tweets that caught the attention of combat sports people from around the globe.
“Whether there’ll be takedowns, elbow, or ground game – these are certain things that Floyd has stated, if a rematch happens it will be in the octagon with four-ounce gloves to build up interest, or else no one’s gonna buy it.
“Both parties have not agreed. There’s no pen to paper. These are certain things that were discussed. It went back and forth,” explained Al Raisi.
But the talk of Floyd stepping into the Octagon is very real and confirmed by Mayweather himself.
“If we can get together with Dana White and the UFC to make a mega-fight happen, one fight, it could be against Conor McGregor.
“We don’t know. But we could do a multi-fight deal. But Showtime and CBS has to be involved if I do a multi-fight MMA deal.”