Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to fight Floyd Mayweather
Khabib Nurmagomedov is still sorting through the mess from his post-UFC 229 attack on Conor McGregor‘s team, but that’s not stopping him from thinking about the future. He recently called out Floyd Mayweather and wants to fight him — just like Conor McGregor did.
Nurmagomedov calls out Mayweather
Via MMAFighting.com, Nurmagomedov was recently ringside with Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions. With a camera rolling, Nurmagomedov, one arm draped around Ellerbe’s shoulders, called for a fight against Mayweather.
A post shared by DeJuan Blake (@dejuanblake) on Oct 13, 2018 at 6:46pm PDT
“Hey, let’s go, Floyd. We have to fight now. 50-0 vs. 27-0. Two guys never lose. Let’s go. Why not? Because in the jungle, only one king. Only one king. Of course, I am the king because he cannot drop McGregor but I drop him easily. Let’s go!”
Will we ever actually see Nurmagomedov vs. Mayweather?
Currently, Nurmagomedov is suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission pending an investigation into his attack on McGregor’s team after UFC 229, and his $2 million purse is also being withheld. Additionally, the UFC withdrew his training partner from a match with McGregor’s training partner, and Nurmagomedov was so unhappy that he threatened to cut ties with the UFC.
Whether Nurmagomedov would actually leave the UFC is unknown, but there’s no doubt his star is on the rise. Even ignoring his headline-making attack on McGregor’s team, Nurmagomedov is the first person to ever knock McGregor down in competition. Mayweather easily won his bout with McGregor back in August of 2017, but he couldn’t knock McGregor down. Fighting the first man to do that could be very attractive to Mayweather.
It turns out that Mayweather is definitely interested. On Monday, after Nurmagomedov’s Instagram video had made the rounds, Mayweather tweeted that for the right price, he’s all-in.
CBS, Showtime and MGM Grand get the checkbook out!
Go to @leonardellerbe ‘s page to view Khabib Nurmagomedov challenging me.#CBS#SHOWTIME #MGMGRAND#MayweatherPromotions pic.twitter.com/6OtiDhtbNx— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) October 15, 2018
It didn’t take long for Khabib to respond.
@floydmayweather But no Vegas, they won’t pay my money.
A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on Oct 15, 2018 at 10:02am PDT
Nurmagomedov might feel differently if the NAC ends up giving him his $2 million purse from the McGregor fight, but until then it looks like he and Vegas aren’t on speaking terms.
Vegas or not, a possible bout between Mayweather and Nurmagomedov could be huge. The fight between Mayweather and McGregor was the second biggest pay-per-view event of all time, and Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor at UFC 229 set an MMA pay-per-view record. Combining those two events, even without McGregor’s involvement, would mean big money for everyone involved.
In September, Mayweather announced that he was coming out of retirement for a rematch of the 2015 bout between him and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather could have a busy year ahead of him if he ends up fighting both Pacquiao and Nurmagomedov.
– – – – – –
Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter at @lizroscher.
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Boston fans douse Chiefs star in beer after TD
• After loss, all Raiders star wants is to ‘make babies’
• Fan shouts ‘Vote Republican’ during anthem at NFL game
• Chiefs star blames NFL rule for Brady’s clutch TD run
