Conor McGregor and Eddie Hearn shared glasses of the Irishman's own whiskey and stout as they met to discuss his potential involvement in Katie Taylor's May homecoming.
Taylor was due to face Amanda Serrano at Croke Park on May 20, with the 80,000-capacity of the stadium expected to fill up easily after her lengthy professional career played out entirely in the UK and America. But when costs emerged as being far too high, promoters had to move the event to the underwhelming 13,000-capacity 3Arena.
However, McGregor appeared to be making a last-ditch effort to save the day when he tweeted that he would pay the difference between Matchroom's budget and the price Croke Park wanted. Ultimately, it seems the solution found will see Taylor will face Serrano at the arena in May before a huge event at the stadium in September, potential against Chantelle Cameron.
Hearn flew to Dublin yesterday afternoon with Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith to visit McGregor at his Dublin hotspot The Black Forge Inn, where they shared a meal and a few drinks. The Irishman arrived in style to great fanfare after leaving his guest waiting around 40 minutes, posing for pictures and meeting fans before sitting down with the boxing bosses.
Flanked by members of his usual entourage, McGregor put on a tremendous show for Hearn after telling Mirror Fighting, "we'll see what happens" in regards to making a deal. The pair took photos and chatted in a back corner table amongst regular customers over a meal and glasses of the UFC legend's Proper Twelve and Forged Irish Lager.
Hearn and Smith left for Dublin Airport after about an hour-and-a-half meeting, while McGregor stuck around to chat and dance with customers, sign autographs and even catch up with some old local friends. He left at around 7.30pm, telling Mirror Fighting after the meeting that it had gone "very well."
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"It's looking good," he explained. "We're going to support the show and it's looking good." When pushed on when news will come out of the details regarding his deal with Hearn, McGregor added: "As soon as it's done."
In the caption of an Instagram post showing the pair together, Hearn wrote: "Good catch up with Conor McGregor today - appreciate your support of the Champ Katie Taylor." McGregor responded to the post by declaring that the pair were "honest grafters".
The Irishman will leave today for Las Vegas to film The Ultimate Fighter in which he will coach prospective lightweight and bantamweights opposite Michael Chandler. He and the American will film for the coming weeks before entering their own respective training camps and fighting later this year in the season finale on pay-per-view; McGregor's first fight in over two years.
