Taking to social media, McGregor responded to Mayweather on Saturday and posted the following to his Instagram account:
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“Floyd Mayweather, don’t ever bring race into my success again. I am an Irishman. My people have been oppressed our entire existence. And still very much are. I understand the feeling of prejudice. It is a feeling that is deep in my blood. In my family’s long history of warfare there was a time where just having the name ‘McGregor’ was punishable by death."
The UFC featherweight champion also took the opportunity to call Mayweather out.
“Do not ever put me in a bracket like this again. If you want we can organise a fight no problem. I will give you a fair 80/20 split purse in my favour seen as your last fight bombed at every area of revenue.
“At 27 years of age I now hold the key to this game. The game answers to me now.”
McGregor also decided to clear up confusion relating to a previous social post in which some people were pictured with a replica rifle. Given Ireland’s stringent gun laws, McGregor landed in hot water with local police.
“I apologize for having the air-soft in public,” he said. “I was simply rehearsing for a potential upcoming film role."
As regards the McGregor-Mayweather spat, it seems unlikely the pair will ever meet in the ring (or Octagon), although it would certainly be a money-maker.
McGregor and women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm will be the star attractions at UFC 197 in March.
