Dana White teases Floyd Mayweather fight for 2020: 'We have a deal'
UFC boss Dana White said on Thursday that a handshake deal is in place for Floyd Mayweather to fight in 2020.
Who he would fight is unclear, but it would likely be another crossover bout with an MMA fighter stepping into the boxing ring a la Mayweather-Conor McGregor in 2017.
And of course whether it actually happens is far from a done deal. But White told Jim Rome on his show Thursday that he hashed out an agreement while talking with Mayweather at a Los Angeles Clippers game.
"It's true,” White told Rome. “We sat at the Clippers game. We started talking, and we literally got a deal done right there on the court. Shook hands. We have a deal.”
White eyeing next October or November
He then told Rome that he plans to sit with Mayweather’s manager Al Haymon in March to formalize a deal on paper.
"I think if everything goes our way, Floyd and I would be doing something in October or November,” White said.
Mayweather recently ‘retired,’ ‘unretired’
Mayweather has habitually retired and unretired, with some speculating that he likes sitting on his pristine 50-0 mark in retirement. But as his moniker acknowledges, he likes money more. And the right crossover fight could amount to a financial boon after his bout with McGregor brought in an estimated $600 million and was the second-largest pay-per-view draw in fight history.
Just three weeks ago, Mayweather, 42, announced he had retired from “the brutal sport” of boxing in an interview with Reuters.
Just a day later, he posted a courtside image of himself with White promising “another spectacular event in 2020.”
The next day he announced he was “coming out of retirement in 2020.”
Who would Mayweather fight?
White declined to speculate who Mayweather’s opponent might be. But Jorge Masvidal seems a likely candidate.
The owner of the BMF belt called out Canelo Alvarez for a boxing match after defeating Nate Diaz in the Octagon in November. Alvarez seems uninterested, equating talk of the fight to a money grab.
But a money grab is in Mayweather’s wheelhouse. And after Mayweather made his announcement, Masvidal, who fights at 170 pounds, posted on Twitter he could cut weight to 154 pounds, which would put him in Mayweather’s range.
Yes it is true. I can make 154 #theresurrection
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) November 26, 2019
For the right price, it sounds like another MMA-Mayweather crossover will happen.
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