Dana White on Mayweather vs. McGregor reports: There is no deal

Late last week, a report emerged from Ireland, suggesting that UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and semi-retired boxing great Floyd Mayweather had agreed to a deal for their headline dominating mega fight. In an instant, a fight that has long looked almost impossible was suddenly glimmering with possibility.

According to UFC President Dana White, however, there is no real cause for excitement. White, who has long been adamant that this fight cannot happen with the involvement of the UFC, recently told TMZ that the fight is far from done.

“There is no deal,” he said of this McGregor vs. Mayweather showdown.

This, of course, is an undeniable bummer for fight fans who are hoping to see McGregor and Mayweather go at in the boxing ring. There is, however, still some cause for cautious optimism, as McGregor recently arrived in Las Vegas, where Mayweather lives.

Though the purpose of McGregor’s visit to “the fight capital of the world ” is to film an anti-bullying PSA as punishment for his ugly, August bottle-throwing debacle with Nate Diaz, he has said on several occasions that he hopes to meet with Mayweather and iron out the details of this fight. At the moment, however, it is unknown if this meeting will actually happen.

When we last saw McGregor in action, he took out Eddie Alvarez with second-round punches in the main event of November’s UFC 205. With this win, he became the UFC’s undisputed lightweight champion. Because he still owned the organization’s featherweight belt at the time, this made him the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes concurrently.

Mayweather, meanwhile, was last seen in the ring in September of 2015, when he defeated Andre Berto by decision to improve his record to a sparkling 49-0.

Do you think this Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight will ever happen, or do you share Dana White’s skepticism? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/15/2017.