UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has thrown the gauntlet down to Floyd Mayweather by signing a contract the fight the undefeated boxer.
The on-again, off-again nature of the cross-sport bout, that dates back to May last year, is now as close to confirmation as it has been with the news that McGregor and the UFC have come to an agreement that allows the brash Irishman a chance to earn life-changing money in what would likely be the most watched boxing fight in history.
UFC 205, which was headlined by McGregor's lightweight title victory over Eddie Alvarez, is understood to have sold in the region of 1.3 million pay-per-views in the United States alone and garnered a venue record live gate of US$17.7 million numbers which outperformed the top boxing events in the same calendar year.
McGregor's last four fights, have consecutively broken the 1 million pay-per-view benchmark including UFC 202 which established a new UFC record buy-rate in access of 1.7 million PPV purchases.
McGregor issued a statement on his website saying "It is an honour to sign this record breaking deal alongside my partners Zuffa LLC, The Ultimate Fighting Championship and Paradigm Sports Management.
"The first, and most important part of this historic contract has now officially been signed off on.
"Congratulations to all parties involved. We now await Al Haymon and his boxer's signature in the coming days."
Mayweather and his team have stated as recently as March that the holdup in negotiations was down to McGregor and the UFC, with that now out of the way an announcement is imminent.
For more than twelve months, rumours of a match between McGregor and Mayweather have dominated the headlines in both the mixed martial arts and boxing worlds.
Speculation intensified last November when McGregor won his second UFC title in New York, an historic fight which underlined the Irishman's status as the biggest star in mixed martial arts and arguably all combat sports.
Newshub.
