Floyd Sr. Says Son Would Make Huge Mistake Joining MMA

I recently read an interview with Floyd Mayweather Sr. about his son's supposed interest in fighting in MMA. In the interview conducted by Percy Crawford of FightHype.com, Mayweather doesn't hold back on his thoughts about the possibility of his son joining MMA. I couldn't help but post about this interview because I couldn't stop laughing as I read the article.

"He needs to leave that shit alone. He’s going to get the same fucking thing Vince Phillips got; leg broke, arm broke or whatever. Vince Phillips got his arm broke. You can’t mess with that…that’s what they do. You can’t beat nobody at their own game."

"All of this he talking about right now, this martial arts shit, I’m telling you, he about to get broke the fuck up right now. I’m telling you, he could forget all of that stuff being cute and how you supposed to hit somebody with a check hook. Man, them motherfucker’s going to take that check hook motherfucker and squeeze your guts out. I’m just being real with you man."

"If he ever want to take a motherfuckin’ loss, you bout to take one right now motherfucker. Go ahead and try that. One of them motherfuckers grab you and bing, bing…hit the floor twice motherfucker and it’s over with."

"Lil Floyd about to get his ass tore up man. He ain’t about to whoop them motherfuckers. He can forget that shit!"

"Man, let me tell you something, they don’t even need a referee for this shit right here. They ain’t going to need a referee because he’s going to tap his own self out if he’s able."

"They going to break his fucking limbs. One of them motherfuckers hit him upside his fucking head and he may never be the same. I’m just telling the truth."

"He ain’t got to worry about retiring. When they get through with his ass, he will be retired. He will be retired fucking with them motherfuckers. They would love to fight him. This ain’t no fucking boxing; ain’t none of these motherfuckers scared of his ass. I’ll fight one of them motherfuckers if they just want to throw their guards up. I’m old and I’ll beat they ass, but when they start talking about that going to the ground, elbows and knees and all of that, man fuck that shit. I ain’t about to go in there. Them motherfuckers dangerous man. One thing about it, them guys can take a fucking punch man. Those guys will laugh at Lil Floyd when he hit them."

First off, let me make it clear that I do not believe that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will ever join MMA. It's a decision that I don't think makes any sense at all. If it's because he'll be offered $30M to fight, it still doesn't make sense because he'll make somewhere in the neighborhood of $25M to fight Cotto later this year.

Perhaps, Mayweather Jr. wants to fire back at those who say he wouldn't stand a chance against a Mixed Martial Artist. Perhaps he's doing it as a publicity stunt in order to jump start the MMA promotion that he's supposedly interested in creating. Who knows? But either way, this, to me, does not seem like a wise decision and I agree completely with Floyd Sr. about this.

Yet, I don't totally agree with Floyd Sr. in that his son would be completely annihilated inside a cage.

Here's what I think:

If the fight hits the ground, it's over. Floyd will be humiliated.

So if Mayweather is seriously thinking of transitioning into MMA, then he needs to train grappling for a solid year at least. Forget the boxing, he knows boxing. He's great at it. Maybe throw in 2 hours of boxing a week, just to keep him fresh. But the rest of the time he needs to spend 12 solid months of extensive training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and training takedown defense.

Hook him up with one of the Gracie's or with BJ Penn. He needs to have that trainer teach him the ins and outs of Jiu Jitsu. In one year, I believe he can become well enough with the basics of grappling to ensure that, if the fight does hit the ground, he can defend himself well enough that the referee stands the fighters up.

Don't expect Mayweather to be pulling off any submissions, however. Training ground defense will help him avoid being submitted or being the victim of vicious ground and pound.

Mayweather also needs to train hard at takedown defense. He needs to know when to expect the takedown and how to avoid it. He doesn't necessarily need to train for shooting in for takedowns, although, knowing how a takedown is executed might help him in identifying the signs of an attempted takedown and how to fight off a takedown.

Keeping the fight standing is, obviously, the game plan that Mayweather would be looking to execute. If he joins MMA, he instantly becomes the best boxer in the sport. He is very elusive and very accurate with his punches. Now being the best boxer in the sport doesn't exactly translate into the being the best striker.

Striking in MMA not only includes punches, but involves kicks, elbows and knees. I would assume that Mayweather wouldn't concentrate as much on the kickboxing aspect of the game since his number one priority is to avoid being taken down and to defend himself if the fight should end up on the mat. His standup already includes head and footwork that is unmatched by any athlete in MMA, and he also has hands that are second to none. So with his standup already looking sharp without kicks, I would imagine that kicking would be on the backburner in terms of training.

His opponents Plan A would be to take him down. If that doesn't work and Floyd can keep the fight standing, I believe he stands a very good chance of winning a fight in MMA. Now if Plan A doesn't work for his opponent, his opponent might look to Plan B and that would be to use kicks. Floyd wouldn't know how to deal with kicks. His legs haven't been conditions to take such a blow. Leg kicks, although they look harmless when they land on TV, are very very painful. They look harmless because the fighters' legs have been conditioned for such an impact through years of hard training. Being kicked in the quads hurts like hell. One kick, alone, can seize up your leg and prevent you from doing anything else significant. Getting kicked in the shin is another level of pain altogether.

In Muay Thai we are trained to check kicks as they come in. This means blocking the kick with your shin. In checking a kick, you flex your foot upwards so that it isn't pure shin bone that takes the brunt of the kick, but the muscle beside it. The muscle raised up over the shine bone, giving it some protection. Yet, no matter what you do it hurts. It hurts bad. Shin on shin can drop you. It will drop someone who isn't prepared for it. Mayweather would have to be conscious of this. If he faces someone who has decent kicks, he'll be in a world of hurt.

They would have to send Floyd into the fight against a tomato can and that just wouldn't make sense for a payout of $30M. For that kind of money, they would have to pit him against someone fairly well known, and that would spell disaster for Floyd.

This decision just doesn't make sense to me, and I don't think he'll go through with it.