Dana White disputes rumors he's no longer involved in McGregor vs. Mayweather negotiations
When it comes to the negotiations to put together a boxing match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, UFC president Dana White promises he's the only man for the job to get the deal done.
A report was published on Thursday in the L.A. Times claiming that talks had heated up between the two sides to put together the showdown between McGregor and Mayweather, but it was WME-IMG leading the negotiations for the UFC lightweight champion.
WME-IMG, the powerhouse agency who purchased the UFC last year for over $4 billion, is led by Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, who were reportedly leading the negotiations along with Mayweather's longtime manager Al Haymon to finalize a deal for the fight.
White says that couldn’t be further from the truth because he's the one leading talks for what could become one of the most lucrative fights in combat sports history.
"We live in a world right now where you can't believe anything that you read. Who else would be running the Mayweather-McGregor deal than me? What does WME know about making big fights? It's pretty bad," White told TMZ.com.
"I've had a couple of bad days back-to-back with bad legitimate news stories. The Las Vegas Review-Journal (regarding purchasing several houses in Las Vegas) and now the L.A. Times. Trust me, I'm running the Mayweather-McGregor deal. I'm the only one in on it."
White came to an agreement with McGregor several weeks ago on a deal to allow the UFC champion the opportunity to pursue the matchup with Mayweather, which could earn the Irishman a nine-figure payday depending on how much money the fight generates.
Now it's just a matter of reaching an agreement with Mayweather, who was the biggest draw in boxing history prior to his retirement in 2015.
"When I do [know more about the fight] you'll know," White promised about the McGregor vs. Mayweather fight.
Current negotiations will also need to find a new date for the fight after plans were scrapped to put the bout in Las Vegas on Sept. 16. That date has now been occupied by the boxing match between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gennady "GGG" Golovkin at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
