McGregor eyes Phelps showdown after Mayweather’s blockbuster bout?
After taking on a shark (sort of), swimming legend Michael Phelps has a new challenge in his sights – racing Conor McGregor
McGregor switched from mixed martial arts to boxing in order to take on one of the pound-for-pound greats in Floyd Mayweather Jr last month and Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, would like to see the Irishman swap his gloves for goggles.
The 23-time Olympic gold medallist tweeted a mocked up graphic of himself facing off with the UFC superstar in the aftermath of his fight with Mayweather.
While Phelps insisted it was initially just a joke, he stated he would be happy to race McGregor in the pool and even offered him a 50-metre head start.
All of this talk… Should we race as well?? @TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/l3JoMgb1qT
— Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) August 29, 2017
“Everyone kept tweeting and retweeting this photo that I tweeted of him and I across from each other,” Phelps said.
“I said it as a joke. If he wants to swim, I don’t care. I’ll race him.
“If we did it in a year, and I trained for a year, or even six months, I could probably go 48 seconds if I had to. I don’t see him breaking a minute, so I could probably beat him with a 50-metre head start.
“I would definitely exercise the option to have a conversation if he wants to swim.”
Phelps raced a computer-generated shark in July and lost, but he did beat NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal in 2009.
