Dana White declared a rematch between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather "hopefully" won't happen as he appeared to soften his stance on the bout.
Reports indicated that the pair were in talks to stage a rematch of their infamous 2017 boxing duel, which McGregor lost via stoppage. A fresh report then suggested that a deal was 'close' to being agreed, with the pair only left arguing over the rules for the second meeting.
UFC president White previously indicated that he would be acting with "dementia" if he approved a second meeting between the pair despite the overwhelming success of the event. He said: "All bull****. Those guys are just talking on social media like they do."
White appears to have now offered a more soft response, telling GQ : “McGregor-Mayweather 2 is not supposed to happen. Should not happen. Hopefully won't happen." The UFC kingpin was heavily involved in the opening meeting between the pair, which became the second highest-selling pay-per-view in combat sports history.
Mayweather and McGregor earned mega-money from the event, with the former anticipated to have pocketed around £265million and latter earning around £100million. Fresh reports suggested that conversations were ongoing between the pair, just days after McGregor posted "I accept" with a picture of the pair at battle.
Showtime president Stephen Espinoza is unsure if the fight could happen but believes that the only stumbling block to any second meeting would be the stance of the UFC. "I think the UFC is still a major obstacle. I mean, having said that, they were an obstacle the first time," Espinoza said when assessing the chances of a rematch in an interview with FightHype.
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"Until they were convinced to go along with it and I think in retrospect they're pretty happy with certainly the financial results, if not the results of the fight. Floyd is out there, look, he's never gonna stop trying to do the biggest events possible. So, I have no doubt that he'd be interested in it. I have no doubt that it would be a huge worldwide event but the question, as usual, is where are the UFC at on Conor's side?
"Conor hasn't been that active whereas Floyd has been active in exhibitions but the other question is what kind of business does that do? I think there is more hysteria than there is substance about it but who knows? That whole thing with Floyd and Conor was rumoured for sixth months before it went into existence, and that's almost what is happening right now."
McGregor is understood to be focused on a comeback in the UFC after breaking his leg last year, but is unlikely to be cleared to fight until 2023. Despite his current trajectory, the Irishman has opened the door to another appearance in the squared circle, admitting the sport was his first love growing into fighting.
