The fight took place at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, on August 26, 2017, at the light middleweight limit (154 lbs; 69.9 kg).

[10][11][12] During his successful UFC mixed martial arts career McGregor maintained an interest in boxing and entertained the idea of a "money fight" with Mayweather.

[14] White even went as far as stating, "Here's what I think the chances are [of the fight happening]: About the same of me being the backup quarterback for Brady on Sunday," referring to Super Bowl LI.

On The Herd with Colin Cowherd, White openly offered to pay Mayweather $25 million to hold the proposed bout during a UFC event.

[26] By that time, three names had been confirmed on the undercard, including British amateur boxer Savannah Marshall, who signed up earlier in the year with Mayweather Promotions, and Badou Jack, who stepped up to fight at light heavyweight.

[27] On July 26, 2017, it was announced that former welterweight titleholder Shawn Porter would be headlining the preliminary card, facing Thomas Dulorme.

[30] On July 29, it was reported that Gervonta Davis would defend his IBF junior lightweight title against former WBO champion Roman 'Rocky' Martinez.

[33] On August 9, 2017, it was announced that Nathan Cleverly would defend his WBA light heavyweight title against Money Team fighter Badou Jack.

[36][37][38] On July 10, 2017, it was announced that pricing for the PPV in the U.S. would mirror that of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, being set at US$89.95 (with an additional $10 charge for high definition).

[39] Due to the high demand, a large number of television providers, as well as UFC.tv, experienced technical issues with their carriage of the PPV, including errors, buffering and low video quality.

[44] Sky Sports Box Office held broadcasting rights to the fight in McGregor's native Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

[45] The fight was called for Sky Sports by lead commentator, Adam Smith alongside Carl Froch and British MMA fighter and UFC analyst, Dan Hardy.

[49] As with Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, it was expected that many viewers would seek unauthorized streams of the fight due to the high cost of the PPV.

Showtime successfully received a preliminary injunction against the registrant of a group of 44 websites who planned to illegally stream the fight in violation of its copyrights, and all parties in active concert or participation with them.

[54] McGregor was expected to earn $75 million, but both men signed non-disclosure agreements barring them from publicly communicating the financial details.

[78] After the match Mayweather stated that he had expected McGregor to be a fast starter and had allowed him to deliver his heavy blows early.

[citation needed] Gervonta Davis failed to make weight at the August 25 weigh in, forcing the IBF to strip him of his title.

Nathan Cleverly lost his WBA light heavyweight title to Badou Jack in a one-sided bout which ended when the referee stopped the fight in the fifth.