It cannot be denied that all parties involved with the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight on August 26th will be taking home a massive payday. Floyd Jr. alone is expecting to earn $300 million for the possible 36 minutes of action.
But according to Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett, the revenue that will be raked in was not at all a factor in the decision-making process of approving the sanctioning of the fight.
“I take a look at each fighter’s record,” Bennett said on Monday’s MMA Hour episode (via MMA Fighting). “I have a standard operating procedure that I use and when it comes to finances, I don’t even want to hear about it. The money does not enter into my position as an executive director.”
“When it comes to the finances, I cut the people off right away, respectfully, because it does not enter into the equation on whether or not I approve a fight.”
Bennett says he actually consulted notable names in boxing, such as trainer Virgil Hunter, before giving the green light on the fight. But he was already convinced enough with McGregor’s MMA record alone.
“Conor is the younger, stronger, the longer, more powerful puncher. As you know in the UFC, he fought featherweight, lightweight, welterweight. His record is 21-3 in MMA —17 of those wins have come by way of KO or TKO. So he’s a premier striker, knockout artist,” Bennett said.
“He’s a young, aggressive warrior who believes he’s gonna win. And that attitude unto itself makes it very dangerous.”
“I’m known as an executive director to be very conservative in approving fights, whether they MMA or boxing,” he continued. “I have a format that I go by that I had to deviate a little from. Because this is unprecedented. It is historic. Both these guys are phenomenal athletes. I took a real close look at Conor, because everybody knows Floyd. He’s 49-0, arguably the best defense in the history of boxing. Future Hall-of-Famer. Conor is a young warrior coming up.”
Mayweather vs. McGregor happens on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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