Mayweather Promotions CEO: Match with McGregor won't happen

Count Leonard Ellerbe among the doubters that a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor will ever be booked.

Responding to the news that McGregor recently acquired a license to box in the state of California, the Mayweather Promotions CEO told ESPN's Dan Rafael that UFC owner WME-IMG would never let its biggest star jeopardize his reputation - and the promotion's - by stepping into the ring with Mayweather.

"The brass who recently purchased the UFC are very smart people and they would never - and put this in bold caps - let him step into a boxing ring with Floyd Mayweather because everyone knows what the outcome would be," Ellerbe said. "He would get his a-- beat from pillar to post."

McGregor's mainstream popularity continues to rise with every history-making moment he authors, the latest being a spectacular knockout win over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 to claim a lightweight championship and briefly become a two-division titleholder (McGregor relinquished his featherweight belt two weeks later).

Despite McGregor's soaring notoriety, Ellerbe still believes the fighter is simply capitalizing on Mayweather's name and the speculation over their potential meeting to expand his fan base.

"What McGregor is attempting to do is take a page out of Floyd's book from the marketing and promotional side by using his name," Ellerbe said. "The quickest way to become famous is to align yourself with another famous person, and he's done a good job of that."