Conor McGregor has barely had a moment to take a breath after his TKO loss in Las Vegas at the hands of Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather, but it seems the whole world wants a piece.
The inter-disciplinary fighter has been called upon by another champion to take on a different sporting challenge.
Forget the Octagon, and the ring; Michael Phelps wants to meet McGregor in the pool.
Phelps followed the progress of The Notorious and Money Mayweather avidly, along with the rest of the viewing world, once the pay-per-view system caught up with demands, of course.
Absolutely no illegal streams here!
He seemed impressed by the display of athletic prowess on both corners:
Phelps, a 28-time medal winner, is used to high-pressured televised sport spectacles with one clear winner.
The 32-year-old Olympian recently raced a Great White Shark as part of Discovery‘s Shark Week, in a Battle for Ocean Supremacy.
The race was preempted by a trailer McGregor and Mayweather would be proud of:
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In the poorly CGI’d footage, Phelps racked up a time of 38.1 seconds, with the aid of a fin and flipper and the shark beat him by two seconds, coming in at 36.1 seconds.
So Phelps understands what it’s like to lose to a superior athlete on unfamiliar turf, sharing the same sense of bizarre achievement with Conor.
You can watch the race in the clip below:
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If Saturday night is anything to go by, McGregor would come off the starting blocks strong – with all that kicking power finally being put to good use – but would probably tire before reaching the finishing line.
Still, I think he’d feel comfortable in the Speedos.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.