By Edward Chaykovsky

Former heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer George Foreman says UFC superstar Conor McGregor was a nobody until he started verbally challenging Floyd Mayweather Jr. to a boxing match.

A lot of people would disagree with Foreman, as McGregor reportedly generate very high pay-per-view buyrates for the UFC. The numbers are never made public, but UFC sources claim there were several events that crossed the 1 million buyrate mark - including McGregor's highly anticipated rematch with Nate Diaz.

Mayweather, who retired in September 2015, has been trading words with McGregor for over a year.

McGregor wants to face Mayweather in a boxing match, but he needs to overcome the biggest hurdle to make that happen - his exclusive contract with the UFC.

Under that contract, he still owes four fights to the organization. UFC President Dana White has already threatened a legal battle if McGregor attempts to step around his contract.

Mayweather has often claimed that McGregor, and other UFC fighters, are always piggybacking on his name. Foreman agrees with him.

Whether or not the fight happens, Foreman has made a firm promise to never purchase another pay-per-view event that involves Mayweather in the headline bout.

"The other guy, no one even knew his name and now he keeps flirting with the idea of him fighting Floyd Mayweather. He should take advantage of that and go out and fight 100 more people and wait until the Mayweather fight happens," Foreman told the Jake Brown show.

"He's famous now. He's almost a household name and he was not until the talk of him fighting Mayweather. It doesn't even have to happen. I'm not buying anymore Mayweather fights. Best believe that. Not me."