Showtime exec refutes Dana White's claim about McGregor vs. Malignaggi footage

A short clip of sparring footage between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi set the combat sports world on fire.

Millions of people watched as Malignaggi spilled to the canvas after an exchange with McGregor. Was it a punch? Was it a trip? Everyone had an opinion.

But getting the full footage of the sparring? That was its own drama, according to Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza. Including the sparring on Showtime’s “All Access” – a seeming no-brainer for the promotional documentary – wasn’t as easy as making a request.

Espinoza refuted a claim from UFC President Dana White that the UFC sent Showtime “a ton of footage” to include in the promotional documentary for “The Money Fight” and left it on the cutting room floor to protect Malignaggi, a Showtime commentator.

Espinoza said it was actually McGregor’s team sending the footage – and it certainly wasn’t all of it.

“We received a few short clips,” he told The Sporting News. “Roughly a minute total which were provided by the Conor camp. We reviewed them and were very interested in using them and including them in ‘All Access.’

“But it was a series of sort of spliced-together McGregor highlights, eight or nine seconds each. We didn’t want to use the whole thing. It was sort of repetitive. We were told if we didn’t use the whole segment as they edited it then we couldn’t use it at all. So in the end, Conor’s camp withheld permission for us to use it.”

White claimed the sparring session between McGregor and Malignaggi was a one-sided beatdown in favor of the UFC lightweight champion, and Malignaggi’s decision to leave McGregor’s camp shortly after arriving was good for his health.

“(Showtime) denied (the sparring footage), because they didn’t want to make Paulie look bad,” White said. “They didn’t show any of it. They had a ton of the sparring footage, and they wanted to use zero. I have nothing against Paulie. I don’t even know the guy. You know me when guys start talking (expletive). I actually felt bad for the guy.”

Malignaggi, in turn, blasted White for releasing the footage on social media accounts. He accused the promoter of withholding the full footage to obscure McGregor’s minuscule chances against Mayweather when they headline the Showtime pay-per-view on Aug. 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Malignaggi is set to serve as a commentator.

McGregor dismissed Malignaggi’s anger as “concussion talk” and on Wednesday laughed at the former two-division champ’s callout, telling him to “get in the queue.”

McGregor plans to box and compete in MMA after facing Mayweather. No shortage of opponents await him in both sports. But a fight with Malignaggi seems like a no-brainer, if the reaction to the footage is any indication.

For more on “The Money Fight: Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor,” check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.