Dana White says Floyd Mayweather would have had a rematch with Conor McGregor if the Irishman wasn't retired

Earlier this year, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, UFC president Dana White and Floyd Mayweather worked out a deal to co-promote fights together.

Unfortunately, Mayweather's uncle and trainer Roger Mayweather passed out in March. And the global outbreak of COVID-19 started shortly after that. So the possibility of Floyd's return never materialized. But according to Dana White, there are still ongoing talks about a comeback fight for the undefeated (50-0) Mayweather.

“Floyd and I still have dialogue and go back and forth,” White told in a recent interview with TMZ. “We’re still interested in both sides. I know he would rematch Conor McGregor,” White added. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Conor McGregor is retired. When I’m doing things right now and running the business, I don’t even think about Conor. Conor is retired. As of right here now today, Conor is retired until Conor tells me differently, I’m not trying to make any fights for Conor.”

The TMZ reporter gave a sarcastic reply saying "and I am the heavyweight champion of the world."

“I’m just sayin’,” White replied with a smile. “He is retired right now. He is not fighting. Per my contract with the fighters, I owe them three fights a year. If I do not deliver three fights a year I have to pay them their money. Conor McGregor is retired.”

Check out his interview with TMZ about McGregor below.

McGregor last competed at UFC 246, earning a 40-second finish over Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. It was for the first time in over a year "The Notorious" stepped inside the octagon since his defeat against the reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 back in October 2018.

McGregor indicated he wanted to make the year 2020 a full season for him and said he wants to compete for three times this year. But back in June, the Irishman announced his retirement from the sport citing lack of options in the UFC for his exile.

Also, the UFC hasn't been looking to schedule any fight for McGregor saying he is retired now. That's a crazy way to deal with your biggest star, but the company seems pretty comfortable letting Conor sit on the sidelines. Considering he is healthy, injury-free, and motivated to fight, this is quite surprising to be fair.

That has led to rumors of McGregor facing Manny Pacquiao in a boxing match, however, how real are those rumors is not yet clear. But it would generate a huge amount of money that's for certain. McGregor broke the record of highest PPV buys in combat sports history when he fought Mayweather in 2017.

Is White dangling a Mayweather rematch to bring McGregor back into the fold? Is he laying the legal groundwork to argue big fights would be there for McGregor if McGregor hadn’t retired himself? Whether the UFC and McGregor ar working things out or pulling things apart is not yet clear.

When will see McGregor back in action again? Let us know below.