During the week-long promotional tour for the crossover superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor last year, Mayweather hinted that the two fighters could rematch in the UFC after their boxing match. Then, earlier this year, Mayweather began teasing a potential move into MMA. Then, a few weeks ago, Mayweather announced that he would begin training for a possible fight in the Octagon with UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Now, Woodley is saying that he doesn’t expect Mayweather to just survive inside the cage, but thrive.

On UFC Tonight this week, Woodley discussed possibly training Mayweather for a cage fight, suggesting that it wouldn’t take a lot for an athlete like Mayweather to successfully transition into MMA and “hold his own” against anyone in his weight class.

“Blocking kicks is really easy,” explained Woodley. “Once you get to the point where Floyd Mayweather is at, you can see that his boxing, his defense, his ability to see a punch coming in a fraction of a second and avoid or evade that punch, comes from repetition. Drilling over and over and over again. So that’s all we would have to do to utilize blocking kicks.

“If you look at mixed martial arts as a sport, there are guys that are in the UFC that don’t have a four out of five in their wrestling or jiu jitsu, so therefore, it’s not kinda crazy that someone with some of the best boxing we’ve ever seen may be able to hold his own.

“Obviously, every round starts on the feet, every fight starts on the feet, and if you can keep it on the feet, I think that he can hold his own with pretty much anyone in that weight division. My job is to really just help him avoid being taken down, using angles, using footwork, using defense, how to get back up if he gets taken down.”

Mayweather has never fought professionally outside of the boxing rule set but in boxing he is one of the most accomplished fighters of all time, winning an Olympic bronze medal and going 50-0 in his professional career and claiming world titles in five different weight classes. With that elite skill set as a background, Woodley previously suggested it would take about 10 weeks to prepare Mayweather for a fight inside the UFC but earlier this week, Mayweather said he would plan on taking six months or more to prepare so everything is “done the right way.” However long it takes him though, Woodley is excited for the opportunity to not only participate in one of the biggest events in UFC history, but to sharpen his own tools up for his next title defense.

“You think for one second I’m gonna be in Floyd Mayweather’s camp and I’m not gonna tighten up my boxing and get my hands ready to go?” said Woodley. “There’s gonna be a crossover in there. So I wouldn’t be second fiddle at all, it’s just a pivotal part of the sport where a boxing great decides to maybe come over to the octagon and see what he can do on that side and it’s an honor that they would consider me to do that.”

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MUST-READ STORIES

$500M. Anthony Joshua ‘100 percent’ interested in entertaining Zuffa Boxing offer.

Injury. Brent Primus releases statement about withdrawal from Michael Chandler rematch.

Rush. Fabricio Werdum: Lack of patience was ‘my worst enemy’ against Alexander Volkov.

Champ. Anthony Pettis discusses post-title struggles: ‘I’m not in this to be a gatekeeper.’

Sugar. Sean O’Malley set to have surgery this week, hoping to return in fall.

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VIDEO STEW

Just a bunch of champs discussing champion things.

Joe is correct, headbutts should be legal, especially standing headbutts.

Michael Chandler beach workout session.

Chael discussing CroCop, Bellator, and USADA.

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LISTEN UP

Obviously Fight Talk. Discussing Darren Till and UFC Liverpool.

UFC Unfiltered. An interview with Paul Felder ahead of UFC 223.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

The beef continues.

And some more beef for Usman.

Statement.

This is the world we live in now. If only we hadn’t already conclusively established who will win in a fight between a boxer and a NHB fighter. . .

Short notice.

Very cool.

Damien Brown is trying to get a fight with anyone and this one would be okay.

Tony Ferguson has a career as the next Ido Portal after he’s done fighting.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Volkan Oezdemir (15-2) vs. Mauricio Rua (25-10); UFC Chile, May 19.

Ryan Scope (11-1) vs. MArtyn Harris (4-4); Bellator 200, May 25.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2002: Josh Barnett became (at the time) the youngest champion in UFC history when he stopped Randy Couture with punches at UFC 36. Also that evening, Matt Hughes successfully defended his welterweight title, stopping Hayato Sakurai in the fourth round.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

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.