Dana White Confirms Meeting With Floyd Mayweather’s Team
During a somewhat slow period of time for actual MMA news, retired boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. decided to drum up his own headlines by stating he could make billion for 3-4 UFC bouts if he chose to unretire and compete in the Octagon.
Immediately the reaction, at least from MMA fans, was that without any former wrestling and/or grappling credits to his name, Mayweather would be worked over in a matter of seconds by even the greenest of pro MMA fighters. However, the predictably did not stop several UFC names including dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson from immediately offering their services against Mayweather.
Thankfully, Mayweather put the rumors to rest by ‘clarifying’ what he had actually meant during the initial interview about with the UFC – that he ‘could’ make a billion with the UFC if he wanted to, not that he was actually going to do it. A sigh was let out from the MMA universe after Mayweather vs. McGregor sucked the air out of anything MMA or combat sports-related this summer, but there’s also reason to believe Mayweather to the UFC isn’t completely off the table just yet.
Speaking on FOX Sports’ ‘Undisputed’ today, UFC president Dana White said he still could not rule out Mayweather in the UFC:
Show host Skip Bayless asked White what his take on Mayweather in the UFC was, and White left the door open for a huge spectacle:
“Right, so when he had come out earlier and said that so people were asking me about it, and I said that he would, you know, don’t count anything out on him coming over to the UFC, that anything is possible. I still don’t. Listen, you guys know, I was here. I did not believe McGregor Mayweather would happen and it did, so anything is possible.”
Talks have reportedly gone so well that White even said he was meeting with Mayweather’s team later in the day:
“I actually have a meeting with those guys today. I do. With his crew, yes.”
Bayless the suggested such a meeting would at least signify the potential for some kind of business, and co-host Shannon Sharpe suggested perhaps another boxing match, to which White agreed could be coming next year:
“Well, I’m interested in getting into boxing in 2018, so we’ll see.”
