Dana White has some good news and some bad news regarding the proposed crossover megafight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather.
When asked about the diamond-encrusted panty night at the UFC 210 post-fight press conference, the UFC president confirmed the suspected timeframe for his sit-down with McGregor.
Once his child is born, the discussions can begin, and he’s pretty confident that the fight will go ahead. There’s too much for both sides to gain for it not to.
“Conor is having a baby any day now and after Conor has his baby, Conor and I are going to meet in New York. and then we’ll go from… no, we’re not close.”
“Yeah, I think there’s a better chance of it happening than me quarterbacking. I see this fight happening. I see this fight happening. Conor wants it and Floyd wants it. I’ve said many times, Conor’s done a lot, he’s stepped up in big fights for this company and for Lorenzo, and I can’t deny him this fight.”
We need to talk about Floyd https://t.co/AykBeq34yt
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 7, 2017
The tone took a bit of a turn when White brought up the recent comments made by Jeff Mayweather. Floyd’s has been spreading the rumour that the UFC were looking for 80 percent of McGregor’s purse for the fight. According to White, this is absolute bollocks.
“What I would like to clarify is all the bullshit about the 80 fucking 20 split. Jeff Mayweather? Come on, Jeff! Me and Jeff go way back. Jeff, are you the spokesman now for Team Mayweather? And Bob Arum, you piece of shit, fuck you too! what do they know about this fight? You know what they know about this fight? Nothing.”
“Believe me, we have had preliminary talks with Conor and I’m in a good place with Conor. We’re going to meet in New York when he has his baby.”
The bad news is, White believes the negotiations could end up dragging, much like what happened when discussions began over Mayweather’s ‘Fight of the Century’ with Manny Pacquiao. He disagreed with the notion that Mayweather isn’t as invested in the bout as McGregor. If it wasn’t for the UFC superstar’s involvement, this wouldn’t be a potential PPV record smasher.
“The thing is, 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, all this stuff… listen, of course everything I say is going to come off biased because he’s my guy, but you guys just watch. Is Conor McGregor not a massive star? This fight here, Floyd doesn’t make this kind of money without Conor, so Conor’s just as important as Floyd when it comes to this fight.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve been talking to them (Mayweather’s team) for a while now.”
At least the conversation has already started.
