The grumblings about Kenny Bayless seem to have worked a treat for Dana White and Conor McGregor.
A concern existed in McGregor’s camp that the veteran official, who has been accused in the past of a bias towards Floyd Mayweather, has been taken out of the running for the August 26 super-fight.
The Irishman’s head coach, John Kavanagh, had previously revealed that McGregor’s team would object to the appointment of Bayless by the Nevada State Athletic Commission
“Yes, I’ll be objecting to that,” Kavanagh wrote during an AMA on Boards.ie back in June before UFC President Dana White took to Twitter to reveal his reason for opposing the potential Bayless assignment.
Seriously? This is Kenny Bayless who works for the NSAC a potential ref for the fight. Sounds like he works for the crybaby Oscar De La Arum pic.twitter.com/7yLvORqMOQ
— danawhite (@danawhite) June 23, 2017
And it will therefore come as music to their ears to learn that Bayless will not be taken into consideration by the NSAC when they finally decide on the third man in the ring for McGregor vs. Mayweather next weekend.
The LA Times have reported that, due to Bayless’ previous public criticism of the contest, he was no longer deemed a candidate to share the ring with the undefeated pugilist and his debuting opponent.
“I wouldn’t want to see it,” Bayless said of the bout prior to it being booked. “It’s two different sports. UFC and boxing are two different sports. What would be the point?”
On Friday, McGregor told reporters why he would not be happy with Bayless officiating.
“His views … he went public on what he thought the fight was,” McGregor said during a media day at the UFC HQ. “He can’t be involved in the event.”
But McGregor’s comments on the referee were not what prompted the commission’s decision to take Bayless out of consideration.
“Conor McGregor had nothing to do with Kenny Bayless’ removal,” NSAC executive director Bob Bennett told the LA Times.
“Kenny Bayless was removed from being considered because of the comment. Based on his comment — he shouldn’t be talking to the media unless it’s something mundane, like about how an official works — he was removed long before McGregor said anything.”
