Floyd Mayweather Camp Laugh Off Conor McGregor Fight Talk

So it's been dominating the sports pages today, and it appears Conor McGregor has completely upped the ante and got himself a boxing licence for the state of California.

This has led to all sorts of rumours online that a fight with Floyd Mayweather is on the cards, however those appear to be completely shut down by the Mayweather camp.

CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe spoke to Dan Rafael of ESPN said:

"It's all a game. It's all a calculated effort to gain more fans. He got a boxing license. Congratulations to him. Conor McGregor can say anything he wants to but he has a boss and his name is Dana White. He is under contract to the UFC and if he wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match he can't because his bosses wouldn't allow that to happen."

Ellerbe has also alluded that McGregor is simply trying to build himself up even more:

"Nobody is mad but it's a con job trying to make people think this is real and even mentioning him and [Mayweather] in the same breath is disrespectful, completely disrespectful. Isn't this the same guy who tapped out three fights ago?"

If this is the case, is there something else at play here?

There is an argument that McGregor is trying to promote himself and put the talk out there, but let's not forget that following his win over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 to become the organisations first ever simultaneous two-weight world champion, he said he wanted shares in the company and hinted at fighting for a third belt.

Only two weeks later, he was stripped of the featherweight title, and reports from those close to McGregor's camp say he wasn't happy:

UFC says McGregor has "relinquished" the 145 title. I'm told he never agreed to that, as we reported earlier, but UFC w/i rights to strip.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 27, 2016

According to Dan Rafael's piece, to get a boxing licence in California you need to pay $60, fill out a relatively simple four-page document and then pass a medical.

To me, this says that McGregor is not just using this as a marketing and promotional play (and we all know he plays them well), but he's also sending out a message to the bosses at the UFC that he may have other options on the table.

Having said that, the Mayweather camp only earlier this year said a fight with McGregor could be on the cards, so who knows?