By Keith Idec
Dana White doesn’t think anything that happens during Conor McGregor’s fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. could do permanent image damage to the MMA superstar.
White, UFC’s president, believes boxing and MMA fans alike are giving McGregor credit for demanding to challenge the undefeated five-division champion who retired as the best boxer in the world. Las Vegas’ Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs) is 40 and hasn’t fought since September 2015, but he is an 8-1 favorite over Ireland’s McGregor (21-3, 18 KOs in MMA).
The ambitious McGregor is 11-plus years younger than Mayweather and has won UFC titles at featherweight (145) and lightweight (155), but he has never participated in a professional boxing match. His first such fight will come against one of the best boxers in the history of the sport August 26 in Las Vegas (Showtime Pay-Per-View).
The Mayweather-McGregor match, which went from a long shot to inevitable over the past few months, was officially announced by Showtime Sports and UFC on Wednesday.
White was among those that participated in a hastily arranged conference call Wednesday night. Mayweather and McGregor weren’t involved in the call.
“At the end of the day, these two guys wanted this fight, the fans wanted this fight,” White said. “And Conor is a mixed martial artist and he’s going into a boxing match against arguably the greatest boxer of all time. I don’t think it damages the brand or Conor McGregor at all [if he loses].
“I think it actually elevates Conor McGregor – the fact that this kid, who has so much to lose, is willing to step in and is absolutely confident that he will win this fight. I think it’s one of the many reasons that people love Conor McGregor. And win, lose or draw, it’ll be one of the reasons that people continue to love Conor McGregor.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.