“Boxers get murdered in MMA. And MMA fighters get murdered in boxing. It’s just they’re two completely different sports,” Dana White said six months ago – around the time Terence Crawford was about to face Canelo Alvarez. His comments on the Club 520 podcast came when the host probed his views on a crossover fight between MMA fighters and boxers. Fast forward to the present, and it seems White’s stance has hardly changed. For a man who was instrumental in delivering history’s biggest crossover fight when Conor McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather, White’s response may seem surprising.

Generating approximately $600 million revenue, the 2017 bout became the second-highest pay-per-view event. Now that, besides the UFC, he controls a boxing promotion – Zuffa – as well, it’s a model that could be repeated. Yet Dana White doesn’t see it that way. His takeaway from the McGregor-Mayweather fight led him to draw a firm line against any UFC star stepping into the ring. That stance resurfaced at the post-fight presser for UFC Fight Night London, when a reporter noted that figures like Alex Pereira, Sean O’Malley, and Ilia Topuria had expressed interest in lacing up the gloves.

“No way in hell,” White said. “The crossover fights suck…That’s not what we do. It’s just not what we do.”

When the reporter tried to point out that Pereira had expressed interest in a matchup against heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, White dismissed the idea, saying he would rather have Jai Opetaia, the cruiserweight champion he poached from Matchroom Boxing, face Usyk.

The exchange didn’t stop there. When the discussion shifted to the business angle, with the reporter referencing the McGregor-Mayweather crossover, White remained skeptical.

“Well, I don’t know if it was amazing,” he said, but added, “It was financially unbelievable. But how many times can you keep fooling people with that?”

That skepticism likely stems from the steady slate of events he oversees. He also has to balance it with the stated goal of matching the best fighters against each other. With those factors in play, along with fan expectations, the idea of staging crossover fights becomes less appealing.

Dana White caught between business and fighters’ boxing dreams

“I run a business; every Saturday basically I put on fights, right? And we try to put on the best fights with the best fighters in the world….You hope you deliver, and what I hope to deliver on Saturdays is as many holy sh*t moments as possible. And you don’t get that from the crossover fights.”

Even when the reporter pressed further, arguing that crossover fights generate online traction, White brushed it aside. Unless you have a figure like Mike Tyson or someone of similar stature on the card, he said, people tend to lose interest.

That firm position matters because several UFC stars have openly entertained the idea of crossing over.

While fans widely recognize Sean O’Malley’s callout of Ryan Garcia, a bigger surprise came when Pereira floated Usyk’s name as a potential opponent.

“I’m not looking too (far) ahead, do you know what I mean?” Pereira said last year. “Honestly, these things didn’t come to my mind—’which one.’ But what I think for the future, what I have in hand, is either Dricus, Jon Jones, or even fighting Oleksandr Usyk in boxing.”

Many observers regard UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria as one of the best strikers in the promotion’s history. With that skill set, the Georgian-Spanish fighter has said he could showcase his talent inside the ring once he finishes his career in the cage.

Considering White’s latest comments, where he was unequivocal about UFC stars lacing up 10 oz. gloves, those ambitions now appear distant.