Dana White Threatens To Sue Manny Pacquiao For Negotiating With Conor McGregor

manny pacquiao conor mcgregor

If boxing legend Manny Pacquiao‘s claims that negotiations are underway to get him in the ring with UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor are true, then he can expect to be hearing from UFC President Dana White’s lawyers.

The rumors began to circulate on Thanksgiving Day last month when Pacquiao posted a picture on his Instagram of McGregor and captioned it with “Happy Thanksgiving! Stay fit my friend. #realboxingmatch #2018@thenotoriousmma

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb1sMeOHa1Z/

During an interview not too long after, Pacquiao confirmed that talks between his team and McGregor’s had begun to negotiate a fight between the two stars. “The Pac Man” noted that “If we can negotiate it, I have no problem. It is OK with both of us.” The Philippine boxing hero revealed that he had initially contacted McGregor’s handlers for the fight but no follow-up conversations had been had.

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Pacquiao stated that he’d like to fight sometime in April, against McGregor or anyone else; in potential locations such as Malaysia, Dubai, or Macau. UFC President Dana White was asked about these rumors during this morning’s (Sun. December 10, 2017) UFC Fight Night Fresno media scrum, and threatened to sue Pacquiao and his management if they attempted to negotiate with his fighter any further:

“No. That would be weird, because he’s under contract with us. If that’s true, I will be suing Manny Pacquiao and whoever is representing him. So, I’m assuming that’s not true.”

Conor McGregor with ufc title
Jason Silva/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire

After the tremendous amount of success the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight saw earlier this year, it’s no surprise that the Irishman could be interested in fighting Pacquiao as well. The bout isn’t too much of a far fetched idea as the former dual-weight champ is now protected under the Muhammad Ali Act as a licensed boxer (coverage he previously didn’t have as a pure mixed martial artist). It should be interesting to see how the situation progresses moving forward.