Dana White Says He’s In Talks With Mayweather Team, Expects McGregor Fight To Happen
The UFC held its biggest event of the year thus far over the weekend with UFC 210 as the UFC light heavyweight title was on the line in a rematch between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson. Following the event, UFC President Dana White attended the post-fight press conference, and despite all of the drama that took place leading into the event as well as the finishes of the fights at the event, the hottest topic in MMA still found a way to sneak in there: Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather.
When asked about the fight and if there were any updates on the potential super fight. White said that after McGregor’s longtime girlfriend Dee Devlin gives birth to their first child, he and McGregor will meet to figure things out.
“Conor is having a baby any day now, and after Conor has his baby, Conor and I are gonna meet in New York, and then we’ll go from there. We’re not close [to a deal]. I think there’s a better chance of it happening than me quarterbacking. I see this fight happening,” White said (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “Conor wants it, and Floyd wants it. I’ve said many times, Conor has done a lot. He’s stepped up for the big fights for this company and for me and for Lorenzo [Fertitta] and I can’t deny him this fight.”
“I would like to clarify all the bulls**t about the 80 f**king 20 split. Jeff Mayweather. Come on, Jeff. Me and Jeff go way back. Jeff, are you the spokesman now for f**king Team Mayweather? And Bob Arum? You piece of s**t. F**k you too. What do they know about this fight? You want to know what they know about this fight? Nothing. Believe me, we’ve had preliminary talks with Conor and I’m in a good place with Conor and we’re going to meet in New York when he has his baby.”
Despite his refutation of Jeff Mayweather’s claims, White strongly believes that money will be the biggest factor in this fight being conquered when it comes to negotiations for the fight begin in earnest. White intends to stick up for McGregor to make sure the UFC lightweight champion gets his worth.
“I’ve been talking to [Mayweather’s team] for a while now. The longer it takes for us to come to an agreement, I think the longer it’s going to take to negotiate with the Mayweather team. Because I know all the talk of ‘A’ side, ‘B’ side and all this stuff. Listen, of course, everything I say is going to come off biased because he’s my guy, but you guys judge. Is Conor McGregor not a massive star? This fight here, Floyd doesn’t make this kind of money either without Conor, so Conor is just as important as Floyd when it comes to this fight. Not to mention the fact that, Conor is actually stepping in and boxing him and not saying ‘Hey let’s fight in mixed martial arts.’”
