Dana White: Floyd Mayweather fight in UFC 'ain't happening' with Showtime involved

Dana White welcomes Floyd Mayweather to take part in an MMA bout inside the octagon, but there’s just one thing: The UFC president wants nothing to do with Showtime.

Therein lies a major roadblock to Mayweather (50-0 boxing) potentially fighting in the UFC as the undefeated – and currently retired – boxing champion said Saturday that his TV partner, Showtime, would have to be part of any crossover event.

“I spoke with Showtime, (and) I spoke with CBS,” Mayweather told ringside reporter Jim Gray during the Lara vs. Hurd fight. “If I do come back, Showtime and CBS has to be involved.”

When informed of Mayweather’s request during Saturday night’s UFC 223 post-event press conference in Brooklyn, N.Y., White responded bluntly.

“That ain’t happening. … That ain’t happening,” White said, before adding facetiously, “We’ll do it on HBO.”

White’s insistence that he won’t work with Showtime stems from his previous dealings with people who work for the premium cable channel, specifically executive Steven Espinoza. Showtime was integral in making “The Money Fight” happen between Mayweather and UFC star Conor McGregor last August.

White previously wrote off Showtime as a future partner after Espinoza publicly contradicted his declaration that Mayweather vs. McGregor was the biggest pay-per-view event in history. Prior to that, McGregor had already turned Espinoza into a villain during the May-Mac world tour.

On Friday, the latest example of their strained relationship popped up when Espinoza mocked McGregor’s legal trouble after a now-infamous alleged bus attack in the buildup to Saturday’s UFC 223.

Without even being asked about, White responded during the post-event press conference Saturday.

“And just to clear something up,” White said, “and I don’t want to give this guy any publicity because he loves it, but that greasy, slimy, rat Espinoza talking about how, ‘Oh, we break the rules’ and all this other (expletive). What is that guy … Oh my God, just keep trying to be HBO and don’t worry about what the (expletive) we’re doing.

“You slimy little rat.”

There’s no question how lucrative a Mayweather MMA fight in the UFC would be. And if history is any indication, no fight is impossible when a lot of money is on the line.

Perhaps that would be enough for White and Espinoza to make amends?

For complete coverage of UFC 223, check out the UFC Events section of the site.