LAS VEGAS — A few days after telling TMZ that a Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather will “never happen,” UFC president Dana White appears to have slightly changed his belief on whether the dream mega-fight will ever take place.
White was asked about the possibility of the fight between the two loud-mouthed champions at his UFC 207 pre-fight scrum Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena, and he didn’t rule it out.
“Listen, I stopped saying never,” White said.” Who knows? But it’s highly unlikely, you know what I mean? I say it all the time. Look how long it took for (Manny) Pacquiao and Mayweather to happen and those guys are in the same sport.”
So why the change of heart for White? It appears the rumblings about the mega-fight were getting on his nerves until he had an encounter with a legendary rapper who also happens to be good friends with Mayweather.
“It did bother me until I bumped into 50 Cent and he said Floyd really wanted to fight (McGregor),” White said. “He said, ‘I’m telling you, he wants to fight him.’”
Any fight between Mayweather and McGregor will be limited to the social media realm for the time being as White also confirmed that The Notorious won’t fight in the octagon for nearly a year because of his girlfriend’s pregnancy.
“The last conversation Conor and I had, he was taking 10 months off,” White said. “I’m not even thinking about Conor. Conor is not in my plans for the next 10 months. We run a business where we make fights. I know who’s available. I know who’s not available. Conor told me, ‘I’m not available for 10 months. We’re having a baby. My girl stresses out when I fight and I don’t want to put that on her while she’s pregnant.’ I love it. I respect that, I get it. Do your thing, buddy. And that’s it. He’s not in any of our plans for the next 10 months.”
If McGregor does take 10 months off, he won’t fight until October. However, the Irishman denied that he’s taking that much time off last week.
Regardless, White feels that even if McGregor doesn’t step into the octagon (or the ring with Mayweather), he will continue to be talked about incessantly throughout 2017.
“There’s nobody better at staying relevant than Conor and Floyd,” White said. “They’re both masters.”
Click to watch Dana White’s full UFC 207 pre-fight media scrum>>
Thumbnail photo via Per Haljestam/USA TODAY Sports Images