(Editor's Note: Full disclosure, I am an employee of Fox Sports working on the UFC on FOX digital media team.)
Watching Conor McGregor go into full promo WWF Attitude Era mode on Floyd Mayweather during the Mayweather-McGregor World Tour (presented by Showtime) has been like watching one of Khaleesi's dragons light fire on unsuspecting peons. We all knew that at some point, McGregor would be unleashed onto the general public, we just weren't sure what it would look like. What we got in return was...well, a dragon lighting shit on fire.
There's no other way to say it. @FloydMayweather got absolutely roasted by @thenotoriousMMA. #FIGHTINGWORDS pic.twitter.com/rCwD1gPBum
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) July 13, 2017
Watching Mayweather go into his bag of tricks, literally, to play a game of show-and-tell tickled me with delight. Lord, when I tell you how excited I was when he had his flunky bring him his designer backpack, I just knew it was about to be something incredible. Floyd didn't disappoint.
Let's just stop here for a moment and recount the other famous times when our favorite stars decided not to cash their checks...
- When Rickey Henderson pulled off one of the most stuntastic moments in life when he received a million-dollar check from the Oakland Athletics and, rather than cash it, framed it and hung it on his wall. Why? "When you're a kid, you want to be a millionaire." Although, that is a good question: how do you show someone you're a millionaire? Do you wait until Forbes puts you on one of those lists? Do you just keep ATM receipts? Maybe Rickey was ahead of his time.
- Remember that time when Manny Ramirez received his paycheck on the road and forgot it in a pair of shoes he left in the visitors' locker room? WATTBA.
- Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson received a $15,361,000 signing bonus as part of the five-year, $70 million contract extension he signed back on July 29, 2014. When asked why he has yet to cash the check, "I just haven’t gotten around to it." The most humblebrag of all time.
From Conor's suit to Floyd's pops crashing Conor's presser to Dana White doing Dana White things, this is not the time to put on our serious "boxing is a PURE sport" hat. Nor is this a time to put on the "Uhhh, what's going to happen to mixed martial arts after this?" hat either.
This spectacle that will last until the end of August is for your entertainment only. Should you choose to give your time and energy to the four-day world tour and the finale in Las Vegas (which will cost you $100 in HD) then don't feel guilty, be happy.
Where else can you witness something that's 10,000 times better than Nick Cannon's Wild-N-Out for free? Where else can you witness the sequel for The Great White Hype for free? Where else can you watch the general population be absurdly critical about what actually happens inside the ring instead of all the shenanigans outside of it?
Imagine taking Mayweather-McGregor seriously instead of as the gilded insanity that it is. Imagine being that boring!
— TOMÁS RÍOS (@TheTomasRios) July 12, 2017
I give you these words as encouragement to enjoy it for what it is instead of what it isn't. If Rocky vs. Thunderlips (from Rocky III) happened in my city of residence or on my television, I would've watched that too. Moreover, if you feel that everything about this extravaganza is everything that's wrong with the world, then that's fine too. Just change the channel, stay off of Twitter and don't talk to me until August 27, 2017.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm getting my popcorn ready for all the tomfoolery and hijinks that I know Floyd and Conor will continue to bless me with.
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”
