Yes, UFC president Dana White has conceded that he’ll have to let the fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather move forward, if negotiations and be finalized. But don’t expect it to open the floodgates to a flurry of future MMA vs. Boxing matches.
Though the UFC has allowed the occasional crossover match in the past – boxer James Toney’s catastrophic attempt at MMA comes to mind – it’s not something White wants to be commonplace. There will be massive amounts of money involved in any McGregor vs. Mayweather match-up and intrigue is running high, but there aren’t a lot of other pairings that White believes would convince him to open the door.
“(McGregor vs. Mayweather) an intriguing fight,” White said during an interview on the “Russillo and Kanell” radio show. “(But) no, I don’t like the idea of it opening up a bunch of different crossover fights. This thing has been talked about, it’s so big. It’s all everybody wants to talk about.
“Now my guys are saying they want to fight that guy. Other boxers saying they want to fight this guy. This is going to be a one and done.”
Anderson Silva has long dreamed of boxing Roy Jones, Jr., Jimi Manuwa recently called out David Haye, and boxer Jean Pascal wants a fight with Nick Diaz. Don’t expect them to happen.
Most pundits don’t believe McGregor stands much of a chance against one of the greatest pugilists of all time, a man that has spent his entire life in the boxing world perfecting his game, amassing a spotless 49-0 record against the best of the best boxers on the planet, but White insists there are legitimate points of intrigue in the match-up.
“It’s an intriguing fight. It really is intriguing,” he said. “If you break the thing down.. and I’m not saying who’s going to win or lose, but Floyd’s 40 years old. Conor’s (28 years old). Floyd has trouble with southpaws; Conor is a southpaw. Conor has knockout power in both hands and Floyd does not.”
