Dana White found someone to sing the Irish anthem on short notice, but isn’t happy Showtime made him do it

Bono was one candidate to sing the Irish anthem, but someone else who hasn’t been announced will sing Ireland’s anthem instead.

The announcement came Tuesday that pop star Demi Lovato will sing the national anthem before Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night, but we don’t know who will sing the Irish anthem.

According to UFC president Dana White, the task of finding a singer to sing the anthem of McGregor’s home country was placed on his shoulders with less than a week until the fight.

White says that a singer has been booked, although he wasn’t ready to reveal who it is when he spoke to the media Thursday.

“Showtime basically popped it on us two days ago,” White told reporters, via MMA Fighting. “What do you mean we have to? This is your show.

“I was trying to call Ireland at all the wrong times. I called Bono first and he said he wanted to do it, but he’s got a wedding this weekend. You can’t call somebody like these guys on three days’ notice, so we’re very lucky that we pulled this off.”

The UFC doesn’t have performances of anthems prior to fights, although Sinead O’Connor did a live performance of “The Foggy Dew” during McGregor’s walk to the octagon to face Chad Mendes at UFC 189.

We may have to wait all the way until fight night to find out who White booked to sing the Irish anthem, but it’s not the first time he or McGregor have accused Showtime of trying to make the UFC star look bad. In July, McGregor called Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinoza a “weasel” during a promotional tour stop in Toronto.

McGregor accused Espinoza and the network of cutting off his microphone during a stop in Los Angeles after he frequently interrupted Mayweather with taunts. White agreed with McGregor and said he also thought Showtime cut the microphone.

With fight weekend finally here, Showtime is still getting on the nerves of White, but that will finally be a moot point when McGregor and Mayweather meet Saturday night.