Nobody should be anticipating a super fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, says Dana White.
The beef between combat sports superstars Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather feels like it started developing when Crumlin was still a part of Pangaea and just when everyone had forgotten it was a thing, McGregor took matters into his own hands to jolt the rumour mill back into life.
Following his sensational knockout of Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, ‘The Notorious’ was granted a boxing licence by the California State Athletic Commission, causing Mayweather to get dragged into the discussion yet again
While a lot of people felt that this was a power move by McGregor to pressurise the promotion into giving him some of that equity he’s been after, others felt this indicated we were on our way to a huge crossover fight spectacle. If you fall into the latter camp, UFC president Dana White believes you’re only going to wind up frustrated.
We're not saying it's probable. We're saying it's possible. https://t.co/Ke2DyH91OS
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) December 1, 2016
White was adamant that this fight would never happen speaking on a recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast with Matt Serra and Jim Norton. Although he’s learned not to expect anything of his superstar because of some of the left-field decisions he’s made, White does not expect him to step into the ring against ‘Money’ in this lifetime.
He cited the “Fight of the Century” bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather as a prime example of why the bout will never happen, as that bout famously nearly took a full century to get booked.
“He’s not fighting Floyd Mayweather. Floyd Mayweather’s not going to fight him, man. It’s never going to happen. The biggest fight anyone ever talked about at the time was Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather. Look how long it took that fight to be made and those guys were in the same sport.”
White believes Mayweather has nothing to gain from fighting McGregor. The undefeated pugilist is one of the richest athletes on the planet and will undoubtedly go down as one of the all-time greats, so White wonders why Mayweather would even bother.
“I’m not taking anything away from Floyd. No matter what you’re doing, the timing or whatever it is, to go undefeated for 20 years is a huge feat. It’s incredible. Floyd has been perfect at fighting the right guys at the right time. He isn’t going to go in there and mix it up with Conor.”
He added that because of how unpredictable McGregor has proven to be, he might have the gall to try and embarrass the boxing great with a cheap shot, even if it results in disqualification.
“Knowing what you know about Conor, just from what you’ve seen, not knowing him personally, do you think Floyd will go in there and start mixing it up and Conor McGregor might hit him with a spinning back kick to the body? Even if it was pure boxing it doesn’t mean that he won’t throw a kick. If you’re Floyd why would you even risk that?”
