Floyd Mayweather to compete in MMA?

Floyd Mayweather Jr has reportedly been considering a move into MMA after having beaten most of the fighters at or around his weight in boxing. Whether this idea will ever come into fruition still remains to be seen, although it would certainly draw fans from both sports to see how it played out. Many people have stated that this might simply be nothing more than hot air from Floyd, who is seemingly looking for his next challenge after publicly retiring from boxing again.

One thing that might be holding Mayweather back from actually moving into MMA is that he would likely have to take a significant pay cut for doing so. While the fights he might be involved with will likely generate similar amounts of money in terms of viewers and sponsors, mixed martial artists get a much smaller percentage of the total than boxers do. Although he will be able to command decent money, perhaps even millions, it will likely be a lot of risk for little reward when he can make more money more easily through a few more boxing matches.

Another of the main concerns that Mayweather probably has is that his style of boxing probably isn't going to work that well in mixed martial arts. The defensive and grinding style that works so well for him in boxing would be largely nullified in mixed martial arts, where opponents could simply take him to the ground if they were being beaten on the feet. Also Mayweather's lack of one punch KO power means that although he would still be effective on the feet, when kicks are also factored in, a more complete fighter could embarrass him. Taking a kick on order to land a knockout blow is all very well, but without power this tactic rarely works.

The other major worry that Floyd's handlers probably have out of this is that he would tarnish his reputation somewhat if he were to lose in mixed martial arts. Still undefeated in boxing, Mayweather can potentially become an all time great so long as he can keep this record in tact. However entering a new sport means that a loss at some point is a lot more likely. This would not only undermine his skills as a fighter rather than just a boxer, but also undermines boxing itself. If one of the bets pound for pound boxers in the world loses in mixed martial arts, then it makes boxing look inferior to mixed martial arts.

In reality this tells you little about which sport is better than the other, as a mixed martial artist would be similarly pulverised in a boxing match. However the way that the sports hype themselves up, MMA would have ammo for claiming superiority over boxing for many years to come, which could hurt the image of boxing as a whole. Whether Mayweather is concerned with this or not is unknown, although surely he must have some loyalty for the sport which made him his millions, and has been his way of life since he was a kid.

Similarly the chances of him actually being successful in mixed martial arts would be fairly small as everyone would already know his strengths. Mixed martial artists aren't going to try to stand with a world champion boxer, and he would probably be quickly taken down and submitted in every fight as a result. As good as he might be able to get on the ground, the lack of any experience at present means that he would still be a long way behind the better fighters, many of which have trained since they were very young.

Historically boxers who have entered the world of mixed martial arts have done very badly, even those who have cross trained extensively. One of the main reasons for this is that the stances used in boxing are often focused on exposing as little of the body to being punched as possible. However the stances in MMA are a lot more open, and are more concerned with being to avoid being taken down, as well as blocking kicks. Breaking the habit of a lifetime in regards to stance would mean that Mayweather, like all boxers would be very vulnerable in MMA.

Whether Floyd is being serious about his potential foray into mixed martial arts is yet to be established, although he has already dipped into the world of professional wrestling in the form of an appearance in the WWE. In this appearance he was seen to apparently bloody the nose of the Big Show, a man who stands at over seven feet, and close to 500lbs. The fact that Floyd is a welterweight means that this appearance was probably limited to just that. As smaller wrestlers rarely get as much of the limelight as the huge hulking monsters which make the show more impressive due to their size and power.

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