One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of a Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight believes the bout will eventually happen.
During an appearance on “Conan” Wednesday night, UFC president Dana White was asked if he believes McGregor and Mayweather will eventually square off.
“I do,” White said, according to MMAFighting.com. “I think it’s going to be a tough deal, because obviously [there are] a lot of egos involved in this deal and a lot of people, so that always makes it tougher. On the flip side, there’s so much money involved. I just don’t see how it doesn’t happen.”
The egos are certainly a factor, but White is downplaying his own role in the negotiations. Even if McGregor and Mayweather agree to financial terms, no fight is happening without White’s approval. McGregor has an exclusive contract with the UFC, so White would need to sign off on any fight the Irishman has outside of the organization.
Of course, White wants the UFC to somehow profit from the fight if it happens. That’s why he already made an offer to both fighters, but Mayweather understandably laughed it off.
In addition to the financial and contractual obstacles, White said there is a size difference between the two fighters that very few people have mentioned.
“Conor McGregor is huge,” White said. “He’s 27 years old. He’s in the prime of his career. Floyd is 40. Floyd has always had a problem with southpaws. Conor is a southpaw. And Conor hits hard. When he hits people, they go. Floyd’s definitely not knocking him out — that’s for sure. I’m not saying that Conor would win this boxing match, but it sure makes it interesting.”
As White said, there’s simply too much money at stake for the fight to not happen — assuming both fighters genuinely want it. Even if the quality of the bout itself winds up being a joke, Mayweather recently gave a great reason for why McGregor should want to box him.
