Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather Fight Suffers Another Setback
Following Canelo Alvarez’s victory against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. over the weekend, UFC president Dana White told reporters that “we just lost our date to Canelo and GGG.” White didn’t make it totally clear who he meant by “we,” but it was assumed it was in reference to the highly anticipated superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
While making an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd this week, White confirmed he had September 16th in mind for McGregor and Mayweather. However, he wasn’t able to get the deal done in time, which is why promoters for the Canelo and Golovkin fight were able to lock down the date.
“The reason they got my date is because I couldn’t get my deal done on time, so they got the date,” White said. “Listen, life moves on, man. We don’t wait for anybody. If the fights are going to keep rolling – you know, I didn’t get the deal done fast enough so I lose the date. That’s how it works.”
If you’re thinking that means we’re getting much closer to Mayweather actually fighting McGregor, though, you’d be wrong. White told Cowherd that trying to come to a deal with Mayweather and McGregor has been a “nightmare” and there’s going to be a point where he walks away from it. What point will that be? White didn’t say, but he made it clear it won’t bother him if they can’t come to terms because “this isn’t what I do – the UFC is what I do.”
“I’m not hinting that it’s getting close at all,” White said while chuckling. “I knew that this thing was going to be a nightmare to get done, if it can even be done. We’ll find out. Obviously, both guys want to fight each other, but what’s the deal? Can the deal be done? That’s the question. It’s not just Mayweather. It’s both sides of this thing are going to be hard to get done. And absolutely, there’s going to be a point where I’m done. This isn’t what I do, this isn’t my business and I’m definitely going to walk away.”
After McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, “The Notorious” said he wasn’t going to fight again until his child was born. Now that Conor Jack McGregor is a few days old, perhaps he’ll provide some clarity on how realistic a fight between him and Mayweather is sooner rather than later.