Dana White is ‘f-ing fried’ and it’s starting to show
Dana White cannot wait for Saturday to be over.
The UFC president has poured a lot of effort into his star Conor McGregor’s boxing match with Floyd Mayweather and the stress is getting to him. White was asked if the UFC was going to have an event in Chile in the future.
“Off the top of my head, I don’t know,” White told reporters. “I’m fried, I’m f—ing fried. I’m really just focusing on Saturday.”
A production of such magnitude obviously needs months and months of preparation to ensure boxing’s night of nights — which has already generated more than $70 million in ticket sales alone — goes off without a hitch.
White lashed out at Showtime after revealing they asked the McGregor camp to organize the Irish national anthem days before the two fighters touch gloves.
“It’s a crazy story,” he told reporters Thursday. “Showtime basically popped it on us two days ago (saying) ‘You guys have to.’ We thought ‘Why do we have to?’ It’s your show.”
Warning: Graphic language
White said he had to make frantic phone calls to find a singer for the anthem, turning to iconic U2 frontman Bono for help.
“I was trying to call Ireland at all the wrong times,” he said. “We called Bono first, he said he wanted to do it but he’s got a wedding this weekend. You can’t call these guys with three days’ notice, you know what I mean?”
White, who has faced a horror week with UFC champion Jon Jones being caught with banned substances in his system, admitted Saturday’s fight has him on edge.
“I’m nervous for the fight. I haven’t been in a situation like this ever. Usually, they are (fighters) both our (UFC) guys getting ready for a big fight but this is a totally different ball game.
“This is a win-win for combat sports. I always like when these types of fights come together, you can always see where the bar is on what’s possible.”
White admitted he hasn’t planned what he’ll do to celebrate if his show pony pulls off a shock win, but the 48-year-old said he has a vague idea.
“I’ve said this since the first day we got into this business, I’ve always said it and I’ll say it again: Combat sport is the biggest on Earth — there’s nothing bigger than this,” he said.
“When you get the right guys at the right place at the right time, literally the world is going to be watching. Over 200 countries are on pay-per-view … the pre-buys are off the charts.”
“If Conor wins, we’ll probably go on a three-week bender,” he said with a laugh. “But if Conor loses, we’ll probably go on a three-week bender.”