NAC director Bob Bennett updates on possible future boxing-MMA crossover fights

This Saturday, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor will battle undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr., and it’s all anybody can talk about. The fight is expected to shatter all combat sports pay-per-view records, and go down as one of the most lucrative events in combat sports history. Given this, it’s hard not to wonder about similar future fights pitting MMA stars against boxers.

On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Nevada Athletic Commission director Bob Bennett discussed this possibility. Apparently, this Mayweather vs. McGregor crossover fight will remain a one-off for the moment, but future research into various aspects of the fight could change that.

“That’s a great question, and that’s something that was addressed in the commission meeting,” Bennett told host Ariel Helwani. “This would be a one-fight exception until we conducted a study and completed it. Now we have had some crossover, lower-end fights where somebody has MMA experience and boxing experience – if it was an approvable fight then we would have approved it.”

“Right now, at this stage, this is a one-fight approval, until we go ahead and conduct and conclude a study as to the weight of the gloves. And it really comes down to the fighters. The fighters have to be approvable. It’s got to be a match that’s approvable.”

This is likely to go down as disappointing news for a number of high-profile MMA fighters who have recently called out boxers. Some of these MMA fighters include UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, who called out Anthony Joshua, UFC light heavyweight contender Jimi Manuwa, who called out David Haye, and former UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva, who has long flirted with the idea of a fight with Roy Jones Jr.

Do you want to see more boxing vs. MMA bouts after Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor’s Saturday night battle?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 8/21/2017.