UFC President Dana White Offers Optimistic View on McGregor-Mayweather Bout

Just a few days after telling TMZ Sports that Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather was "nowhere near being done,” UFC President Dana White offered a more optimistic take on the proposed boxing super fight.

“I do think it’s going to happen,” White said during an appearance on “Conan” Wednesday night. “I think it’s going to be a tough deal. There are obviously a lot of egos involved in this deal and a lot of people, so that always makes it tougher. But on the flip side, there’s so much money involved.

“I just don’t see how it doesn’t happen.”

While there are still a lot of moving parts involved as far as getting the fight signed — namely money — that is still the most positive White has been regarding the situation. Earlier this year, the UFC boss claimed to have offered both McGregor and Mayweather $25 million to make the bout happen. Mayweather later laughed off White’s proposal, calling him “a f—-ing comedian.”

Still, Mayweather officially ended his retirement last week to specifically call for a fight with McGregor. The undefeated boxing champion initially said he wanted it to take place in June, and shortly thereafter, rumors surfaced that the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas had set aside June 10 for the bout. White shot that notion down, claiming there was “no target date whatsoever.”

Regardless of how the saga plays out in the coming months, White is confident that the UFC lightweight champion could make things competitive — even in a boxing match.

“It would be boxing – no kicking, no elbows, and just straight-up boxing in a boxing ring with gloves and the whole deal,” White said. “A lot of things make this fight intriguing, but the reality is this: Anybody who’s ever seen Floyd Mayweather, he’s [small],” White said.

“Conor McGregor is huge. He’s 27 years old. He’s in the prime of his career. Floyd is 40. Floyd always had problems with southpaws. Conor is a southpaw, and Conor hits hard. When Conor hits people, they go [down]. Floyd’s definitely not knocking him out – that’s for sure. I’m not saying that Conor would win this boxing match, but it sure makes it interesting.”

Of course, if the bout were to take place in the UFC Octagon, then it would be a whole different story.

“If this was a mixed martial arts fight, it wouldn’t last 30 seconds,” White said. “Conor would destroy him.”