by TMZ
UFC President Dana White was never under the impression that retired former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26KOs) would actually face UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
Mayweather, 39-years-old, retired from boxing in September 2015 but was recently considering a bout with McGregor. The two fighters were going back in forth through social media for weeks, but then everything seemed to die down.
However - last month McGregor once said he was interested in fighting Mayweather, as long as Floyd could come up with the appropriate funds for the crossover fight - "Right now, I have Floyd running around the Showtime's offices gathering my money. That's what he's doing."
"He's running around the Showtime offices, begging those executives to come up with the $100 million cash he needs to fight me. As soon as he gets my money, we can fight."
During a press conference in New York City to announce UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, when he faces Eddie Alvarez on November 12th, McGregor once again called for a fight with Maweather.
McGregor, 28, is under contract with the UFC, and any potential fight against Mayweather (or anyone else) would have had to involve a co-promotion or the UFC's blessing.
According to Mayweather, he tried to make the fight but it never got going in the negotiations department.
“What people don’t know is that in my company [Mayweather Promotions], I’m the boss,” Mayweather to TMZ Sports. “I call the shots. I think the fight is very difficult to make. I mean, I tried to make the fight before and it didn’t happen. But you live and learn.”
White agrees - because he claims "nobody" from Mayweather's team ever contacted the UFC to discuss any aspect of the fight - including the rules.
"I never thought it was going to happen. No [I never did]. Two totally different sports. [Mayweather and McGregor] seem to want the money, probably. But I don't know how bad they actually want to make that a reality. Listen, Conor's under contract with me. We can start with kicks, punches, and elbows [as the fight rules]. That's right. Kicks, punches, and elbows. He doesn't have to learn to do anything, but he's going to get kicked and elbowed," White told TMZ Sports.
