Floyd Mayweather squashes fighting in the UFC talk: ‘I’m not doing it’

Floyd Mayweather in the UFC? Think again.

Hours after UFC president Dana White said the promotion was having “real” talks with Floyd Mayweather about competing in the Octagon, Mayweather himself shot down the rumblings.

In an interview with FightHype (h/t MMA Weekly), Mayweather said people misconstrued what he said last week about the UFC. He didn’t say he was going to compete in MMA — he said he could make a billion dollars in the UFC if he chose to. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s something he will be doing.

“Exactly what I said is this: If I could make over a billion dollars before, I could do it again,” Mayweather said. “If I chose to get in the UFC and fight three fights or fight four fights and then fight Conor McGregor, I could make a billion dollars. Which I can. I could do it in three fights or even four fights — I could make a billion dollars. If I choose to get in the Octagon and fight.”

In the interview, Mayweather did not necessarily deny being in talks with the UFC. But he did say he won’t fight under the promotion’s banner.

On Wednesday, White told ESPN that talks between the UFC and Mayweather are actually happening and Mayweather fighting in the Octagon is a possibility.

“We're talking to Floyd about doing a UFC deal," White said. "It's real. He was talking about [boxing] Conor McGregor. Was that real? Have you heard Floyd talk about many things that aren't real? He usually tips his hand when he's in the media, and then that sh*t ends up happening.

"We're interested in doing something with Floyd. Everything is a realistic possibility. Mayweather vs. McGregor f*cking happened. Anything is possible."

Who knows if it’s a negotiating ploy or not — one can never tell with Mayweather — but if his interview Wednesday is to be believed, he doesn’t have much of an interest in doing MMA. Whether there’s a billion dollars out there for him or not.

Mayweather, 40, said his boxing match with McGregor back in August was his last. It became the second biggest pay-per-view event of all time with 4.3 million sold in North America. Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao own the record of 4.6 million. Of course, Mayweather has “retired” multiple times in the past and come back.

“We just don’t know what the future holds for Floyd Mayweather,” Mayweather said. “And I don’t look forward to getting back in a boxing ring, that’s what I don’t look forward to. I’m just saying I could — I’m not doing it — but I’m saying what I could do to make a billion dollars quick, if I wanted to do that. That’s what I was saying. I never said I was gonna fight in the UFC. I didn’t say that. I said if I wanted to and what I could. Could and would do is different things. I’m not gonna do it, though.”

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Update: McGregor took to Instagram to respond to Mayweather saying he won’t fight in the UFC.