UFC president Dana White hasn’t talked money with Floyd Mayweather yet, but he’s going to ask for a 50-50 purse split for a boxing match between Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
UFC president Dana White has gone back and forth on the chances of a boxing match between UFC lightweight champing and legend Floyd Mayweather actually happening. Today when speaking to the media though, he seemed pretty positive about the whole thing. He also discussed his idea of a fair purse split between Mayweather and the McGregor/UFC side, which is sure to get some people talking.
White actually hasn’t even sat down with Mayweather yet. But he told a group of reporters outside Citi Field in New York today what he thinks is a fair deal when they do get around to negotiating (via MMA Fighting):
“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.”
He stated that he believes the fight has a “75 percent chance” of happening. He also discussed how many buys it would do, making it clear that the UFC side of things will be the bigger draw internationally than Floyd himself might be:
“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.”
For some comparison points, the biggest fight in PPV history was Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao in 2015, and that did 4.6 million buys. Floyd got a 60-40 share for that.
White went even further, acting very gung-ho about the chances of it all coming together, and stated that Floyd will have a smoother time negotiating with them than he has in the past with some other shady promoters:
“I’m very bullish on this fight,” White said. “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.”
The match was originally being targeted for September, but Golden Boy’s booking of Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin on the Mexican Independence Day weekend scuttled those plans. If the bout is made, you can expect it to take place in the last couple of months of 2017 most likely.
UFC president Dana White hasn’t talked money with Floyd Mayweather yet, but he’s going to ask for a 50-50 purse split for a boxing match between Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
UFC president Dana White has gone back and forth on the chances of a boxing match between UFC lightweight champing and legend Floyd Mayweather actually happening. Today when speaking to the media though, he seemed pretty positive about the whole thing. He also discussed his idea of a fair purse split between Mayweather and the McGregor/UFC side, which is sure to get some people talking.
White actually hasn’t even sat down with Mayweather yet. But he told a group of reporters outside Citi Field in New York today what he thinks is a fair deal when they do get around to negotiating (via MMA Fighting):
“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.”
He stated that he believes the fight has a “75 percent chance” of happening. He also discussed how many buys it would do, making it clear that the UFC side of things will be the bigger draw internationally than Floyd himself might be:
“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.”
For some comparison points, the biggest fight in PPV history was Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao in 2015, and that did 4.6 million buys. Floyd got a 60-40 share for that.
White went even further, acting very gung-ho about the chances of it all coming together, and stated that Floyd will have a smoother time negotiating with them than he has in the past with some other shady promoters:
“I’m very bullish on this fight,” White said. “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.”
The match was originally being targeted for September, but Golden Boy’s booking of Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin on the Mexican Independence Day weekend scuttled those plans. If the bout is made, you can expect it to take place in the last couple of months of 2017 most likely.
