And then there was one.
At the start of 2017, Dana White declared there was as much chance as him being back-up quarter-back to Tom Brady as there was Conor McGregor fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr.
A couple of months later and he showed up on Conan O’Brien’s chat show and said there was a definite possibility that ‘The Notorious’ would take on Mayweather in a boxing match.
Fight fans got excited when they learned Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena had been provisionally booked for a June 10 event but White since scotched reports that McGregor-Mayweather would happen that soon. Right now, the likelihood is that any fight would take place in September if all parties – and there are a lot of them – can reach an agreement.
During his ‘An Experience With… ‘ interview with Ariel Helwani, McGregor declared his next fight would be against Mayweather.
However, White is lining up a potential UFC Lightweight title fight just in case the Mayweather talks stall. He told TMZ:
“He obviously has a lot of opportunities right now. Tony Ferguson is out there, the Floyd Mayweather thing is out there, we’ll see how this thing plays out.”
Asked if McGregor’s next UFC contest would be to defend the 155lbs strap he won back in November, White said it was his number one choice. “I think so,” he added. “That’s what it should be.”
Ferguson now looks to be the No.1 contender in the lightweight division after Khabib Nurmagomedov was ruled out of UFC 209 at late notice. ‘El Cucuy’ has since called for McGregor to either sign a bout agreement with him or vacate his recently won belt.
McGregor has not commented about Nurmagomedov’s travails or Ferguson’s demands but it is interesting to see he does have one UFC fighter in his thoughts:
This is amazing video of a great chapter in my career.
I look forward to the trilogy fight down the road. It was a hell of a fight!Enjoy 👊 https://t.co/13VQNufJNo— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 27, 2017
White believes Nate Diaz is holding out for that trilogy fight with McGregor, whenever it may happen.
“We keep offering Nate fights and he keeps turning them down,” he said. “Nick [Diaz] too.”
