For the past couple of weeks, there have been rumors flying of Floyd Mayweather crossing over into MMA to rematch UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. Many wrote them off as nothing more than a way for Mayweather to keep his name in the news, until two weeks ago when Tyron Woodley announced that he would be helping Mayweather prepare for his octagon debut.

Then, over the weekend, odds were released for a potential MMA fight between Mayweather and McGregor, with the UFC lightweight champion coming in as the prohibitive favorite. So with the winds appear to be blowing towards an eventual foray into MMA for Mayweather, “Money” decided to fan those flames recently by revealing that he has begun to make preparations for such a possibility.

“Not yet but everything takes time,” Mayweather told TMZ Sports recently. “Eventually we’re gonna apply for the license and hopefully we can fight.

“I’ll probably need a little bit longer [than three months to train]. A Little bit longer, even if it takes six to eight months. Whatever it takes. We want to make sure that everything is done correctly and everything is done the right way.”

For those who followed the MayMac saga from its infancy as an internet rumor, those words from Mayweather will sound quite familiar. Back when a crossover boxing match between the two was first proposed, Mayweather was adamant it would happen but that the fight would take time to set up. Many believed it was just media hype, until the bout was actually made. Now Mayweather appears to be playing those same notes for an MMA fight, with the same outcome in mind.

All of this makes sense, as the MayMac event was the second largest Pay-Per-View in history, selling well over 4 million PPV buys and garnering Mayweather an estimated $300 million. A rematch in the cage could figure to do equally as well, and provides some serious incentive, according to the CEO of Mayweather promotions and Mayweather’s longtime friend, Leonard Ellerbe,

“Anything that Floyd Mayweather is involved in is gonna be record breaking,” Ellerbe told Kevin Iole recently. “Anything he does. He’s mastered all the business aspects of how to break records and he’s a genius, so if he decided to do something like that, those numbers would be ridiculous.”

While topping the numbers from MayMac would be difficult, MayMac II: The MMA Money Fight, would almost certainly be the highest drawing MMA PPV event of all time. And though all of this seems far-fetched, so did a boxing match between Mayweather and McGregor not that long ago, and as Ellerbe says, Mayweather might be incentivized enough to do it.

“One thing’s for sure, Floyd has always marched to his own beat,” said Ellerbe. “He makes his own decisions and he’s always been very good at making decisions as it relates to his career and what he wants to do. So I guess we’ll all find out.”

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MUST-READ STORIES

$$$. Francis Ngannou implores Brock Lesnar to return to UFC: ‘Give me that f*cking fight.’

Too Low. Conor McGregor opens as 10-to-1 favorite in potential MMA fight with Floyd Mayweather.

Shame. Paddy Pimblett isn’t interested in competing at UFC Liverpool.

Missed Fists. Check out some of the best in unseen MMA action from last weekend.

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VIDEO STEW

Free fight.

Here’s Cris Cyborg doing a cool thing.

Invicta preview.

Thug Rose interview.

You never knew you needed Chuck Liddell reading you Shakespeare until now.

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LISTEN UP

The MMA Hour. Interviews with Pimblett, Holloway, Ngannou, Danis and more..

Middle Easy Fist Fight. An interview with Aljamain Sterling.

Fights Gone By. Jack Slack rating the fights from UFC London.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Kevin’s not too happy with Khabib.

HE COULD DIE IN THERE THO!1!!1!

Yoel Romero is an all time great if for no other reason than giving us “see you soon boy, I love you.”

That Liverpool card could end up being loaded with talent.

Kamaru is angry.

Ed Ruth is a middleweight. Khabib is enormous.

Fight announcement incoming.

BJ talking about how Tito inspired him.

Wild story from Miesha.

Get at Belal for all your tuber needs.

MW just has all the male models in it.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Anastasia Yankova (5-0) vs. Kate Jackson (9-3-1); Bellator 200, May 25.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2016: Mark Hunt finished Frank Mir with a walkoff KO at UFC Fight Night 85. It was the last fight in Mir’s UFC career, who failed a USADA in-competition test and opted to leave the UFC and compete for Bellator MMA instead.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s gonna happen, y’all. We’re gonna will this thing into existence. We’ve done it before with MayMac I, and Bisping-Hendo II. This is our calling.

Take it easy and see y’all tomorrow

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EXIT POLL

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If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting, and like us on Facebook.