Floyd Mayweather Returns to the Fight Game New Year’s Eve

Floyd Mayweather makes the sports pages once again. The legendary boxer announced plans to accept a new fight. Mayweather, one of the greatest fighters in history, isn’t stepping into a ring though. According to usatoday.com, Mayweather trades the squared circle for an octagonal mixed martial arts cage. Yes, Mayweather could be coming out of retirement to debut in mixed martial arts rules match.

Mayweather signed for a match to take place in Japan on New Year’s Eve 2018. The bout represents Mayweather’s return to fighting after “retiring” in August 2017. Mayweather’s last match saw him box UFC star Conor McGregor in wildly successful pay per view event. Both Mayweather and McGregor earned millions upon millions of dollars for the classic fight.

Speculation runs rampant about the match becoming Mayweather’s debut in MMA. At present, no one knows if the matchup intends to be under traditional MMA rules. The opponent and the venue are named. Mayweather battles kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa at the famous Saitama Super Arena. The match could be an MMA event, or it may be another boxing match. Promotes haven’t released any official word.

Mayweather posted a photo of himself wearing MMA gloves. The image hints heavily the match will be under MMA rules. Hints, however, aren’t confirmations. Considering how close it is to the date of the fight, all the details will come out shortly. The promoters do need to hype the fight to move tickets.

Is Nasukawa a popular and credible enough fighter to sell tickets as an opponent to Mayweather? Can Mayweather make the event a massive financial success against an opponent of far less name value than McGregor? The answers won’t arrive until the night of the event. With the proper hype, the return of Mayweather should move tickets. An online streaming PPV might deliver even more revenue.