McGregor meets with Lorenzo Fertitta in Las Vegas

Is Conor McGregor bringing in an old ally to facilitate a fight with Floyd Mayweather?

"The Notorious" met up with former majority UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta this week during a trip to Las Vegas to patch things up with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and there's been speculation that it's not the only business he's there to conduct.

Vegas happens to be the stomping grounds of one Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr., the retired boxing legend McGregor has been daring to fight him for the better part of the last year. There are numerous obstacles in the way of the crossover encounter, primarily the amount of money each man would want for the bout, and the fact that McGregor is under a restrictive UFC contract.

That's where Fertitta's potential involvement becomes interesting. Though he's only a minority UFC partner after its recent sale to WME-IMG, the business magnate remains an influential name in both Las Vegas and the MMA world, and could prove crucial to a Mayweather-McGregor fight happening.

As recently as last October, Fertitta helped the UFC in its contract negotiations with former middleweight champion Chris Weidman, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could get involved with McGregor.

Of course, it's also possible Fertitta and McGregor were having a casual meetup in front of a wall covered in eyeballs.