Recently Floyd Mayweather stated that he believed Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor are so adored by fans despite their heavy trash talk because of their skin color.
While Mayweather certainly caught criticism for the comments, including McGregor stating that there are people buried in the desert for less, UFC President Dana White fired back at Mayweather with a very calculated response.
He spoke to The Huffington Post:
“I think Floyd’s way off there. I think that Floyd, because he’s Floyd, he feels more hate than love. I think what Floyd doesn’t realize is that I meet tons of people who hate Floyd and I meet tons of people who love Floyd. Floyd has fans and he has people who dislike him. McGregor has the same thing. Forget about race and all that other stuff. McGregor has a ton of fans and lots of people who don’t like him. It’s no different.”
“Muhammad Ali was fighting at a time when there was real, hardcore racism. A guy couldn’t eat in certain restaurants after he won the gold medal and had to get in the back of the bus and things like that. He was [fighting] during real racism. Look at Ali now. He’s loved and adored by millions of people around the world regardless of race. Mike Tyson, the same thing. I would say that people are judged more on their personality than their race. Let’s face it, Floyd does things that will not make people like him.”
“Me and Floyd go back and forth with each other all the time talking smack I guess. Whatever you want to call it. Floyd is a little delusional sometimes. When Floyd was “Pretty Boy Lloyd” nobody really cared. When he became “Money Mayweather” it created a lot of attention for himself. You’re going to have people who love you and people that hate you, whether you’re black or white.”