White expects to seal up Conor McGregor, but Floyd Mayweather still in negotiations for boxing megafight

DALLAS – UFC President Dana White expects to lock up one-half of what could be a hugely lucrative boxing match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather.

The other half, it’s a wait and see.

“We’re right there – I’m expecting an executed agreement tomorrow,” White said of McGregor at the post-event news conference for UFC 211 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. “And then I’ll start working with Team Mayweather next week.”

Conor McGregor

On Thursday, White set a deadline for negotiations with McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC), saying he would walk away from the fight if he couldn’t secure a deal with the UFC lightweight champion, who should be back on the market soon after the birth of his first child.

The first deadline appears to have been met. The second one isn’t set in stone, but White indicated it won’t be the type of timeline that’s accompanied previous Mayweather’s (49-0 boxing) “Fight of the Century” blockbuster opposite Manny Pacquiao.

“We’re just getting this deal done with Conor,” he said. “What do you think the Mayweather side’s going to be like, and how much time am I going to spend on this? We’re going to give it a shot.”

At the very least, White has committed to locking himself in a room with the parties to try to hash out a deal in what could be the most lucrative event he’s ever promoted. In a previous interview, he estimated McGregor would make $75 million while Mayweather would make $100 million. Even a small piece of the total take, including pay-per-view, gate receipts, sponsorships, and other sweeteners, could boost the UFC’s payout into the tens of millions.

Yet White signaled at least one setback recently when he said a boxing megafight between Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin had snagged the September timeframe he’d hoped to secure for McGregor vs. Mayweather.

No matter how profitable for the promotion, White said there are limits to how far he’ll go to make the fight, which has largely been derided by boxing and MMA purists while being acknowledged as a must-see spectacle.

Mayweather already has called White a comedian after his first offer of $25 million and a cut of pay-per-view proceeds, indicating a tough rough ahead at the negotiating table.

“It depends on how ridiculous it is,” White said of Mayweather’s potential demands. “The question is how profitable (it could be for us). You can assume how many pay-per-view buys you’re going to do. There’s no guarantee. Every time you put on a pay-per-view, it’s a roll of the dice. You don’t know what’s going to happen.

“There’s some fights that you do know, and this feels like one of those fights that should do that. But you never know.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.