UFC president Dana White. Screengrab from a video on UFC.com
MANILA, Philippines — Even UFC president Dana White can’t wait for the touted “Fight of the Century.”
In an interview with ESPN, White expressed his excitement over the upcoming Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao megafight which will be staged at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“Damn, I wish this happened five years ago,” White said. “I wanted to see the fight five years ago, but, that being said, I just made a call today to try and get a bunch of tickets. It’s the fight to go to. It’s the fight that everyone has been waiting for. I just wish we could’ve seen those two fight in their primes.”
White also said the unbeaten Mayweather will be the favorite against the eight-division champion Pacquiao.
Talks of a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao megafight surfaced about five years ago when the two champions were at the peak of their careers. Mayweather just turned 38 last month and Pacquiao, 36, has since lost twice including a devastating knockout loss to Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.
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“Floyd Mayweather has consistently stayed in great shape and taken care of himself,” White said. “I think Floyd is definitely the favorite in this fight.”
The fight is expected to break records including pay-per-view buys.
In 2007, Mayweather’s fight against Oscar dela Hoya did 2.4 million PPV buys.
“I hope they do seven million buys that night,” White said. “I always like to see what the ceiling is. I’m excited for that fight. I want to see it and I hope it crushes it.”
Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar had also given his take on the Mayweather-Pacquiao, saying that a fast-paced fight will favor the Filipino boxing fight.
READ: Fast-paced fight will favor Pacquiao, says UFC champ Frankie Edgar