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Boxing

18th Mar 2016

British boxer George Groves twists knife on Conor McGregor while discussing possible MMA swap

Below the belt

Ben Kiely

George Groves says he’d love to have a crack at Conor McGregor inside the Octagon.

The former European, British and Commonwealth super-middleweight boxing champion revealed at the launch of EA Sports UFC 2 that a potential career in MMA would be of interest to him, the Express reports.

One match-up that he would be particularly fancy would be a red panty night PPV against featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Groves believes that if the fight stayed standing it could be very intriguing.

“If McGregor is going to float around my weight and wants to do a pay-per-view fight and he wants to swear at me and call me names then I’d love to have a crack (at him).”

“I think it’d make for a very interesting fight. And as I say, with him being predominantly a striker that’s a huge thing as well.”

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 5:   Nate Diaz applies a choke hold to win by submission against Conor McGregor during UFC 196 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)

Groves didn’t hesitate to twist the knife on the Notorious over his recent defeat to Nate Diaz at UFC 196.

“So he ain’t gonna try and take me down. Unless he’s tired and he wants to tap out.”

McGregor was rocked by a body shot during the fight which he admitted after the fight took the wind out of his sails. The fight ended with a weary McGregor shooting in for a takedown which was easily stuffed by Diaz who went on to sink in a rear-naked choke to force the tap and hand McGregor his first UFC loss.

Groves did admit he liked McGregor because “he’s ballsy and nuts and he doesn’t care.” However, he believes that it was McGregor’s lack of conditioning that lost him the Diaz fight.

“He’s always out and about and he’s always up to something. Really, if I was in a big fight, you’re in the gym and you’re in bed. It’s a boring life, you enjoy it after your fight or you enjoy it after you career – not in-between.”

“It’d be hard to be him I’m sure. But I think probably losing will be the best thing for him now because then he’ll know he can’t get away with the stuff he’s probably got away with before.”