Khabib Nurmagomedov wants Floyd Mayweather Jr to come to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for a hybrid crossover bout.
The undefeated boxing legend has previously announced he will be coming out of retirement for a third time to give combat sports fans ‘another spectacular event,’ which he is currently working with UFC president Dana White.
Nurmagomedov and his fiercest rival Conor McGregor have been the potential opponents for the returning Mayweather as he seeks another massive paycheck, following his appearance at an exhibition fight against Tenshin Nakusawa.
The lightweight champion is currently preparing for his next title-defence, which is scheduled for April in the main event of UFC 249 against number one contender, Tony Ferguson.
Ahead of this titanic clash, ‘The Eagle’ welcomes a potential showdown with Mayweather but not in a straight boxing match.
Fighter
Speaking to TMZ Sports, Nurmagomedov proposed a hybrid fight with the American, where they will box for eleven rounds and fight under MMA rules in the final round.
Khabib is confident of his chances against Mayweather as he believes he can avoid a knockout in the boxing match and dominate the MMA bout.
”If you wanna fight, come to the UFC,” he told the boxing champ (transcript from MMA Mania).
“This is real fight. I’m not boxer, I’m not just wrestler, I am MMA fighter.”
“If interested, maybe we can make something like – my father talk about this before – like maybe eleven rounds box, one round MMA.”
“Like eleven rounds three minute box. And the last round: five minutes MMA.”
“If he makes this deal, I can fight. I don’t think he can knock me out in eleven rounds.”
“And what’s he going to do last round? Five minutes with me, I’m gonna take him down, I’m going to maul this guy. What’s he going to do?”
”You know, of course in boxing he’s very good. I agree with you. But I don’t think he can knock me out,” he ended.
For Money And Drama
Khabib remains unscathed in his professional MMA career, with his most recent win coming at the expense of Dustin Poirier, when they clashed in a unification bout at UFC 242 last year.
If he succeeds on retaining the title this April, a rematch with ‘The Notorious’ could happen later this year.
However, the Russian champ believes the rematch is going to be just a ‘big drama show.’
“If we talk about money, this is good. If we talk about drama, this is good,” he said.
“If we talk about real lightweight contender or real lightweight championship fight, this is not good. This is not real championship fight.”
“But if we talk about drama and money, of course this is good. But I come here for show, to make my legacy.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Khabib Nurmagomedov and Floyd Mayweather)