Headliner Holly Holm, in Singapore to face Bethe Correia in a bantamweight contest on Saturday night, said she had followed the “will they, won’t they” drama that led to the deal finally being struck between a boxer with a 49-0 record, and the currentUFC world lightweight champion (21-3).

“One thing about fighting is that it’s really unpredictable, anything can happen,” said Holm. “I’m excited to watch it, that’s all I know.

“I feel like fighting is the oldest sport in the book and it’s always going to be evolving. If you have the fighter in you, whether it’s MMA or boxing, it’s going to come out and there might be more crossovers in the future. But anything can happen in this fight.”

Brazilian Correia said she was a huge fan of both fighters, predicting that the MMA star would have his work cut out against one of the boxing world’s all-time greats, but he was not without hope.

“I love it,” said Correia. “I love both guys. Floyd is one of the greatest boxers of all time and I love what McGregor did to get this fight.

“I love watching him, the way he promotes himself. I am standing in the corner and clapping that this is going to happen.

“I think it is going to be really tough for Conor because Floyd has beaten some of the all-time greats like Canelo [Alvarez], like [Manny] Pacquiao and [Miguel] Cotto.

“They are big idols of mine. I think Connor has to get his hands really heavy for this fight and if he can use his movement and get inside he might hurt Floyd with his hands.”

American welterweight Colby Covington is here for what promises to be a testing match-up against South Korean welterweight standout Kim Dong-hyun on Saturday.

The American said he’d woken to the Mayweather-McGregor news.

“I think it’s great,” said Covington. “I think it’s good for the sport of MMA. It’s going to draw attention to MMA and it can only be good that’s going to come out of it.

“I think Mayweather’s got the huge advantage but McGregor’s a gamer.

“If the guys are confident enough and they’re talking and getting the boxers fired up, maybe there’s more opportunities in the future.

“The key is that [McGregor] has got a little bit more power so if he land a shot on Mayweather he may go down.

“You never know what’s going to happen. Mayweather’s 40 years old so [McGregor, 28] is younger and fresher. If he gets into the later rounds he might be able to catch Mayweather and put him down.”

The only dismissive voice came from former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski, who faces Marcin Tybura here on Saturday night.

“I don’t really care,” said the Belarusian. “It’s the jackpot for McGregor but not really a good idea for McGregor. I am sure he is not going to touch Mayweather.”