With Conor McGregor remaining very public about his recent excursion to Las Vegas, many are feeling confident that he is close to getting a deal done to make a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. One person who remains doubtful the fight will ever happen, though, is an important one: UFC President Dana White.
If McGregor is going to step into the ring with Mayweather, conventional wisdom would say that White and the UFC would have to be a part of the deal as McGregor is under contract with them and cannot pursue boxing fights as he pleases. In a quick chat with TMZ Sports, White stated that they were “nowhere” in terms of the bout coming together:
“I don’t know where we’re at, we’re nowhere. We’re nowhere with it.”
Unsurprisingly, White said he believes McGregor’s next fight will be in the UFC. This weekend, top lightweight contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson are fighting for the interim 155 lb. title. McGregor holds the undisputed belt, which he won by beating Eddie Alvarez in November.
“I expect Conor’s next fight to be in the UFC, in mixed martial arts and the winner of Khabib (Nurmagomedov) vs. (Tony) Ferguson," White said.
McGregor has been on the shelf since winning the 155-pound title. He had held the promotion’s featherweight title as well, but was forced to “relinquish” that as the UFC didn’t want him to have two belts. Mayweather is retired from boxing (again), but said he would return to fight McGregor.