Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor: Fight Likely To Happen, Says UFC President Dana White

More and more signs are indicating that Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor will become a reality. The latest person to publicly say they think the fight will happen is UFC president Dana White, who might be the biggest potential obstacle to getting a deal done.

“I do think it's going to happen,” White told Conan O'Brien Wednesday. “I think it's going to be a tough deal, because, obviously, there are a lot of egos involved in this deal and a lot of people, so that always makes it tougher.

“On the flip side, there's so much money involved, I just don't see how it doesn't happen.”

READ: Floyd Mayweather calls out Conor McGregor

White’s approval is imperative, considering McGregor is still under contract with UFC. The MMA promotion would have to be involved in any agreement, even though Mayweather and the MMA star are looking to compete in a boxing match.

“A lot of things make this fight intriguing,” White said. “Conor McGregor is huge. He's in the prime of his career. Floyd is 40. Floyd has always had problems with southpaws; Conor is a southpaw, and Conor hits hard. When he hits people, they go. Floyd is definitely not knocking him out. That's for sure.

“I'm not saying Conor would win this boxing match, but it sure makes it interesting.”

A recent report noted that T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas has set aside June 10 in case the bout happens. White dismissed that as the time and place for the fight. After McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 205 on Nov. 12, White announced that McGregor would be taking a break until September.

McGregor has been asking for a fight with Mayweather for the better part of a year, and Mayweather recently said he would be coming out of retirement to take on the UFC’s top star. There is still the issue of how much each fighter will get paid, and they have yet to agree on a purse split. McGregor has said he wants $100 million guaranteed, but Mayweather has offered his opponent $15 million while taking $100 million for himself.

But as White said, it appears that there is too much money to be made for the fight not to happen. The fight would be the biggest since Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquiao on May 2, 2015. That bout sold approximately 4.6 million pay-per-view buys, and Mayweather took home well over $200 million.

Mayweather-McGregor might not break the record, but it would undoubtedly be the second-biggest fight of all time, at worst. McGregor’s last three fights have sold close to four million PPV buys, and Mayweather has sold more PPVs than any fighter in history.