Dana White: No one wants Conor McGregor vs. Paulie Malignaggi, who turns focus to Artem Lobov

UFC President Dana White adamantly denies Paulie Malignaggi’s claim that a fight with Conor McGregor is in negotiations and doubts anyone would want to see the UFC champ compete against the retired boxer, anyway.

Malignaggi and McGregor have been feuding since the former boxing champ made a brief and dramatic appearance in McGregor’s camp prior to his August bout with Floyd Mayweather. Malignaggi had a pair of sparring sessions with McGregor, and the fallout included accusations of mistreatment, released sparring clips and a whole lot more back-and-forth in the public eye.

It’s been clear ever since Malignaggi made a furious exit from McGregor’s camp that he was angling for a showdown with the brash Irishman. McGregor said he would welcome Malignaggi to the octagon for an MMA fight, but UFC President Dana White has absolutely no interest in booking the matchup, be it under MMA, boxing or any other combat sports ruleset.

“Paulie Malignaggi never says (expletive) that isn’t true,” Dana White sarcastically told the “Real Quick with Mike Swick” podcast, hosted by former UFC fighter Mike Swick. “Do you think people really want to see Conor vs. Paulie Malignaggi? People want to see Conor fight in MMA. That’s what they want to see. The Mayweather fight was a one-off, (expletive) crazy deal. This is where he belongs, this is the sport he’s in, this is the sport he excels in and this is where he’s a world champion. This is where he needs to be.”

In the midst of Malignaggi pursuit of the fight, he’s been caught in the crosshairs of Artem Lobov, who is one of McGregor’s good friends and training partners. The pair has engaged in social media warfare, with Malignaggi claiming he could beat both McGregor and Lobov in one night. Lobov said he would be more than willing to step in the boxing to bring the bout to reality (via Twitter):

Whether there’s a chance of Lobov vs. Malignaggi really happening remains to be seen. Lobov said following a recent unanimous decision loss to Andre Fili at UFC Fight Night 118 that he’s considering asking for his UFC release in order to compete in boxing matches. Lobov might not have to go anywhere, though, because White recently revealed boxing could be introduced under the company umbrella in 2018.

White said he understands why Malignaggi would want to fight McGregor given their history, but at this point he has no interest in seeing it. He also believes the majority of the combat sports audience feels the same way.

“Why did Paulie Malignaggi get up and walk out of camp after two sparring sessions? Because it was the right (expletive) thing to do,” White said. “Because he was going to get hurt, because he was going to take damage that was going to affect him for the rest of his life that he didn’t need to (expletive) take. It’s not like they were paying him big money or he had a (expletive) fight coming up himself.

“Paulie Malignaggi got up and left camp, and he should have (expletive) got up and left camp because Conor was going to (expletive) hurt him badly. It’s no disrespect to the guy. It’s a fact. I was there. I watched the whole (expletive) sparring session. That guy needed to go home and he needed to leave Las Vegas.”

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