UFC chief thumbs down fight between Pacquiao, McGregor

MANILA, Philippines – Forget about a potential fight between Manny Pacquiao and UFC star Conor McGregor.

This after UFC president Dana White said the bout will never happen as long as Pacquiao is handled by Top Rank Inc. chief Bob Arum.

“Listen, I love Manny Pacquiao,” White recently told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports.

“But I don’t love Bob Arum. You can tell Arum to save his money and not make any calls over here because we aren’t doing business with him,” added the UFC head.

White made the comment after Pacquiao said he is open to a fight with McGregor, the reigning UFC lightweight champion.

Pacquiao has long been fighting under Arum, and his contract with Top Rank is good for the entire 2017.

In an interview with ABS-CBN the other day, the Filipino icon said he is willing to lock horns with McGregor – but in the boxing ring and not the octagon.

"It could be possible if there is an intention to negotiate (for) the fight but definitely in boxing, not in an MMA fight," he said.

McGregor has recently been making noise about crossing over the boxing and taking on the retired Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Pacquiao, for his part, is set to return to the boxing ring on April 23, with Australian Jeff Horn as a possible opponent.

The fighting senator, however, said nothing is final yet with regards to his foe and the fight venue.