DANA WHITE has denied accusations he tried to steal Anthony Joshua from Eddie Hearn, as well as rubbishing claims he offered the boxer a £350million offer.
It was reported back in March that the UFC president offered AJ a multi-million-pound deal, a rumour that the 48-year-old has put to bed.
White has revealed how he only wanted to raise the profile of the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight champion in the US, with Joshua to continue working with Matchroom promoter Hearn.
Speaking in the post-fight press conference after UFC Fight Night 130 in Liverpool, White was quizzed about the reported offer.
To which he replied by saying: “I never made him an offer, ever.”
And when asked where the number came from, White said: “Thin air. I never made him an offer.”
He added: “We were supposed to meet, but we never talked money or we never did anything.
“That isn’t even really the kind of deal I was looking to structure. Because when we talked, he had told me he was going to stay with Eddie Hearn. He told me he was going to stay with Eddie.
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“He was never going to get rid of Eddie Hearn and that was never the plan. Like I was trying to move in and steal him from Hearn.
“The deal was that I felt we could [add] a lot of value to them in the United States. So we could cut some kind of a deal for the US.
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“He’s big in England, everybody knows who he is in England and I have the machine to make him big in the United States. That was the plan.”
Joshua is yet to make his professional debut in America, but has been linked with facing WBC champ Deontay Wilder across the pond.
However, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist is ready to lose £15m in order for the bout to take place in the UK, as he looks to avoid dirty tricks from referees in the US.
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