Dana White: McGregor-Mayweather isn't the best thing for my business
With (at least) two massive egos and parties from multiple sports involved, it’s no surprise that the negotiations for a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor are coming along at a snail’s pace.
On top of the contractual posturing and whatnot, both fighters are fairly preoccupied at the moment. Conor McGregor is off celebrating the birth of his son. Floyd Mayweather is busy trying to buy an NBA franchise and promoting strip club openings.
And both of them like to control the narrative and say they are in the driver’s seat when it comes to the negotiations.
All of that surely makes it tons of fun for UFC president Dana White, the man trying to broker the deal with his own fighter and the all-time boxing great. He went so far as to call it a ‘nightmare’ on Tuesday and said he didn’t even know if it’s going to be possible to get it done.
So why keep trying to put the fight together if it’s such a huge hassle to get everybody onboard (besides the money, of course)?
It’s all about loyalty, according to White.
“You have to understand that this fight is something I’m doing for Conor [McGregor],” White told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. “You know, Conor’s done a lot for this company. He’s stepped up in situations where nobody else would step up and I respect him for that. I know he wants this fight bad and it’s a very big fight for him and his family so I’m doing everything that I possibly can to try to make this thing happen.”
There are limits to White’s patience, though. The UFC president said he won’t continue to chase a deal if McGregor and Mayweather don’t get on the same page soon.
“But this isn’t the best thing for my business at the end of the day,” White said. “It takes a lot of the focus off what we do here, and off that division that Conor is the champion of … so, I don’t know, we’ll ride this thing out for a little while longer and see if we can make this thing happen. If not, I’m moving on.”
One thing is certain: All parties stand to make bank on this charade of a fight if they can somehow find middle ground.
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