Dana White estimates huge paydays for McGregor ($75M), Mayweather ($100M-plus)
— -- UFC president Dana White has cautioned that he still has a lot of work left to make a proposed boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.
But if the fight sells as well as he believes, White says there will be a lot of money for all parties involved.
Speaking to Fox Sports 1's "The Herd" on Wednesday, White estimated McGregor's payday for the potential fight at $75 million. That figure would dwarf any amount McGregor has made in UFC, where he is a lightweight champion.
"It depends on how much the fight sells," White said. "If the fight sells as well as I think it can, Floyd makes a little north of $100 [million] and Conor makes $75 [million].
"[Mayweather] feels like he's the A side and he should get more of it. We really haven't got into that negotiation yet. I wanted to get McGregor locked in first because McGregor is under contract with me. At the end of the day, does this fight make a ton of sense for me? It really doesn't. But Conor wants this thing really bad, and I've said this many times: The kid's stepped up and saved some big fights for me. I'm in. I'll figure it out."
McGregor, for his part, posted on Instagram on Thursday that White's prediction is too low.?
"It's actually 100 milli if we go by the non conservative numbers the fight will actually do and that's not including my endorsements and business ventures," he said.?
Earlier this month, White told ESPN that he planned to meet with McGregor in May in New York. The Irish star is awaiting the birth of his first child that month. McGregor has previously thrown out a number of $100 million to fight Mayweather.
White says UFC is on board with McGregor's desire for the fight, but lengthy negotiations still remain with Mayweather. The retired boxing great lives in Las Vegas and is advised by Al Haymon.
"The Conor side -- we're good on the Conor side," White said. "I need to figure out the Mayweather side, and maybe it can't be. Maybe the Mayweather side can't be done. We'll see. I promised Conor I'd do everything I could to make this fight happen, so that's what I'm going to do."
Last month, McGregor, a two-division UFC champion, told the Los Angeles Times the Mayweather fight was "close" and that he was targeting a September date. Both sides have been relatively quiet since.
McGregor's biggest disclosed purse in UFC is $3 million for his welterweight rematch against Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in August. It remains the richest disclosed purse in mixed martial arts history. That figure does not represent McGregor's total pay for the bout, which includes undisclosed bonuses and shared pay-per-view revenue.
Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs) made a guaranteed $100 million purse for his record-breaking fight against Manny Pacquiao in 2015.
"There's no doubt people want to see this fight," White said. "It's all anybody ever asks me about. I'm going to do my best to see if I can get this thing done. I'm not saying I can, but we're trying to."
