Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor was one of the biggest and most lucrative events in combat sports history, but UFC president Dana White wants no part of a second go-round.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, McGregor last week wrote “I accept” as the caption to a photo of him punching Mayweather after Fight Hype reported the two sides were in talks for a potential rematch five years later.
Since Fight Hype posted its sources tweet regarding a Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor 2 fight, the former 2-weight UFC champ posted "I accept" on Instagram alongside a photograph of him digging a right hand into the boxer's beltline. https://t.co/zw8hn2qLpH pic.twitter.com/3JbJnWj92A
— Al Dawson (@AlanDawsonSport) June 23, 2022
In response, White simply scoffed at the idea.
“Not me. I’m not talking about that,” White said Monday on “The Jim Rome Show.”
It remains unclear when McGregor will return to action, but White sounded certain that the former UFC two-division champion will come back to the octagon and not the ring.
“It’ll be in the cage,” White said. “Conor is looking to come back the end of this year, early next year.”
McGregor’s UFC career has been on hold ever since he suffered a broken leg in his injury TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy almost one year ago at UFC 264. For much of 2022, McGregor has shared videos of his training on social media but only earlier this month he was seen throwing kicks for the first time since breaking his leg.
McGregor, a former simultaneous UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, lost to Mayweather by 10th-round TKO in their August 2017 “Money Fight” that sold 4.3 million pay-per-views in North America. Since then, he’s 1-3 inside of the octagon, with losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and twice to Poirier. McGregor’s lone victory came at welterweight against Donald Cerrone in January 2020 at UFC 246.
Despite his fall as one of the best fighters in the world, McGregor has no shortage of contenders who have recently called him out, including welterweight Jorge Masvidal, and lightweights Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira.
McGregor, who turns 34 on July 14, is the wealthiest MMA fighter and one of the richest athletes in all of combat sports. That being said, White doesn’t doubt his desire to continue fighting.
“When I do talk to Conor, Conor wants to fight,” White said. “Conor gets all kinds of offers for movie roles and all these other things that he can go and do and make money. He doesn’t want to do any of that. Conor wants to fight.”
