Dan Hardy is heading to Las Vegas to be an analyst for Sky Sports on the upcoming super fight between UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather.
While McGregor is crossing over to boxing for the super fight, the analyst believes that a Mayweather crossover into MMA wouldn’t draw much.
“We don’t need to see Floyd step into the octagon and get James Toney-ed, to know that’s exactly what would happen,” Hardy told MMA Junkie. “It’s a foregone conclusion and not even up for question. The only reason people would tune into that is for the satisfaction of seeing Floyd getting his little head squeezed off. There is a question of what would happen if we take an MMA fighter and put him in with one of the best boxers of all time. That’s the argument in and of itself, because millions of people will buy pay-per-views to see that question be asked and answered. That wouldn’t happen if Floyd Mayweather crossed over into MMA.”
The James Toney reference made by Hardy is when former two division UFC champion Randy Couture easily defeated the professional boxer at UFC 118.
Hardy also claims that the rise of MMA has made boxers rethink their single minded approach to the fighting game.
“It immediately makes them realize how single-minded they’ve been in their approach,” Hardy added. “Not that that’s a problem, because if you choose to be a boxing specialist, I have no issue with that. But don’t claim to be a fighter when you’re only using your fists, because you’re lying to yourself and everybody else.”
Conor McGregor versus Floyd Mayweather takes place on Saturday, August 26 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
