Dana White likes to be in control of things, and it’s clear that he’s not been enjoying the lengthy game of chicken that’s being played between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, of which he does not have total control over. The two biggest stars in boxing and UFC respectively have insisted for the better part of a year that they want their next fights to be against each other. Mayweather has insisted McGregor is the only opponent he will come out of retirement for and McGregor wants the big money of the Mayweather fight for his next bout.
The problem for White is that he has no control over Mayweather, as he does in fight negotiations for fighters on UFC deals, so he is at the mercy of boxing’s premier fighter and also a harsh, stubborn negotiator — remember, he held out for years on a Pacquiao fight until Manny caved on PPV split. White has tried to appear in control as much as possible, by keeping control over McGregor’s side of the negotiations and doing things like claiming Canelo-GGG “stole” the date they had penciled in for Mayweather-McGregor (something Showtime Boxing, which holds Floyd’s broadcast rights, has denied).
So, it should come as no surprise that White is putting down an ultimatum on the one thing he can control, McGregor’s portion of the negotiations. White went on the radio with Jim Rome on Thursday and said that he needs McGregor’s side of the negotiations done by this coming Sunday, so he can take it to Mayweather and begin negotiating with his team.
If that can’t be done, he’s ready to move on and put McGregor in another UFC bout.
“This has nothing to do with Mayweather’s side,” White said. “This is on our side. Conor just had a baby and everyone who has kids knows how that is leading up to that and then the aftermath a few days after having a baby. I plan on having this thing locked up by this Sunday and then moving on to Team Mayweather and starting negotiating with them. If we really do get it done in that time frame, then this thing could possibly happen. But I still need to go and negotiate with them. There’s no guarantee that we’re going to come to a deal.”
“So what you’re saying is you’ll get Conor’s side done by Sunday, and then move on to Mayweather or you’re just going to move on period?” Rome asked to clarify.
“Correct,” said White.
White is asserting his power as much as he can in this fight and we’ll have to see how McGregor — who doesn’t exactly like it when UFC tries to strong arm him — handles a sudden ultimatum on getting details done on his side of the negotiations.
