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Conor McGregor: I would beat Floyd Mayweather in less than 30 seconds

UFC featherweight title challenger Conor McGregor strikes a pose in New York on March 4.

UFC featherweight title challenger Conor McGregor strikes a pose in New York on March 4.

(Thos Robinson / Getty Images)
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Conor McGregor has plenty of fire in his belly (along with a new tiger tattoo on top of it), so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the smack-talking Irish fighter has directed his most recent diatribe toward boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.

In an interview with Esquire, the UFC featherweight title challenger feels pretty confident he could take out Mayweather in a theoretically octagon showdown. Ultimately, McGregor sees the richest active athlete in sports as nothing more than an expert puncher.

“I don’t look at a man who’s expert in one area as a specialist,” McGregor said. “I look at him as a rookie in 10 other areas. If you can box, what happens if I grab hold of your legs?

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“If you put me face-to-face with Floyd Mayweather — pound-for-pound boxing’s best — if I fought Floyd, I would kill him in less than 30 seconds. It would take me less than 30 seconds to wrap around him like a boa constrictor and strangle him.”

McGregor seems his typical, confident self as he continues to train for his July 11 title fight against Jose Aldo at UFC 189. Still, why is he comparing himself to Mayweather? Boxing and mixed-martial arts are different disciplines. If McGregor were in a boxing match against Mayweather, he’d likely lose. Perhaps the pay high-profile boxers receive has something to do with it.

As for Aldo, McGregor has no problem with resorting to crowd-pleasing antics or speaking the “truth” when it comes to the featherweight titleholder.

“I don’t have anything bad to say about Jose Aldo,” he said. “It’s pretty plain and simple. His time is up. It’s done. There’s somebody ruthless coming to get him. There’s somebody cold coming to get him. I can look at him dead in the eye and say, ‘It’s done. You’re over now.’”

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