When it was announced that UFC President Dana White and lightweight champion Conor McGregor had come to terms on a deal that would allow the brash Irishman to face Floyd Mayweather in a boxing fight, many saw it as a major step in making the fight a reality. Others, however, saw it as quite less given the notorious difficulty that typically comes with negotiating with the undefeated Mayweather.
Perhaps that isn’t the case though, as White, who recently spoke on the topic, implied that negotiations between the two sides are going well:
“I’m very bullish on this fight,” White said (Via MMAFighting.com). “I think it happens. These guys are gonna have to come up with something way out of left field for this fight not to happen.”
“We’re ready to go,” White said. “And I think what we’re looking at in the deal is as fair as fair can be. You’ve gotta understand, Floyd and [Al] Haymon and that group are used to dealing with the scummiest human beings on the planet Earth. I think it’s a little refreshing working with us. And I’m not just being arrogant. They’ve said that to us. I can see it getting done.”
Despite this positive sign from the UFC boss, the fight may still be far from a done deal, as White said that he has yet to talk about a potential split between both sides with Team Mayweather. White, however, did say that he feels as if a ’50-50 (split) is pretty fair’:
“We haven’t even got there yet,” White said. “We haven’t even talked percentages yet. … Floyd can think whatever, but the machine that the UFC has and Conor McGregor alone is a machine by himself. I think that 50-50 is pretty fair.”
“I think this thing does, conservatively, between 2-1/2 and 4 million buys,” White said. “Other people think more. … And this thing will kill it, globally. Conor McGregor and the UFC are huge in Brazil, huge in Australia, massive in the UK and other parts of Europe.”
Despite McGregor’s obvious star power, White may very well be in over his head here. To draw a comparison, Mayweather received a 60-40 split for his record setting 2015 bout with fellow boxing star Manny Pacquiao. The fight turned out to be the biggest fight in pay-per-view history, garnering 4.6 million buys. It’d be hard to imagine Mayweather accepting a 50-50 split with McGregor with those numbers in mind.
What do you make of White’s most recent comments?
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