Yahoo Sports Dana White says Mayweather-Khabib fight will only happen in UFC
Dana White, the president of the UFC, has laid down the law as only he can. Floyd Mayweather and Khabib Nurmagomedov may want to fight each other, but it will only happen on White’s terms.
It’s the Octagon or nothing
White appeared on a TMZ video released Tuesday and made it clear that if Mayweather and Khabib fight, they won’t be boxing. The only way he’s letting it happen is if they fight in the UFC.
“Listen, if Mayweather wants to fight, come fight. You fight in the UFC. We’re not boxing again. We did that once. That’s over. You want to fight? Come fight. A real fight.”
White is of course referencing the 2017 boxing match between Mayweather and Conor McGregor, which was insanely popular and made everyone involved a lot of money. But the world tour leading up to the fight was a headache for White, and he would seemingly rather keep everything in-house this time around.
That throws a wrench into Mayweather’s plans to fight Nurmagomedov. Mayweather told TMZ in mid-October that he wouldn’t fight Khabib in the UFC: “He called me out. So, he gotta come to my world”
What’s next for White and Khabib?
Just because TMZ caught White on video saying that he wouldn’t allow Mayweather and Nurmagomedov to box doesn’t mean it won’t happen. But even if it doesn’t, White said on the TMZ video that boxing is “100 percent” in UFC’s future. He’s just taking it slow instead of “diving in head first.”
Nurmagomedov still has to contend with his eventual punishment from the Nevada Athletic Commission, which suspended him (and withheld his $2 million purse) in the wake of his attack on Conor McGregor’s team following UFC 229. (McGregor was also suspended.) But that didn’t stop White from musing about who Nurmagomedov could take on next. When he was asked, it took him no time at all to suggest Tony Ferguson.
“I mean, Tony Ferguson is the right fight. Tony Ferguson didn’t lose the belt in a fight, so that’s the right fight. … It’s the fight to make. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out. It’s obviously going to depend on the suspension and what happens.”
The Nevada Athletic Commission is expected to resolve the Nurmagomedov and McGregor suspensions in December.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter at @lizroscher.
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