Floyd Mayweather says he will fight Khabib Nurmagomedov
Floyd Mayweather Jr is once again talking about the possibility of returning to boxing even though he “retired” after fighting Conor McGregor. There has been talk about a potential rematch between Mayweather and McGregor, but Floyd says he has his sights set on another UFC champion.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, who recently defeated McGregor to retain the UFC lightweight title, said last week that he wants to go the McGregor route by fighting Mayweather. Floyd told TMZ this week that he’s open to making it happen.
“Oh we fighting,” Mayweather said confidently. “I’m my own boss. I can’t say what’s going on on Khabib’s end, but on my end we can make it happen.”
Mayweather stressed that the fight would have to be in Las Vegas despite Khabib hinting he wanted it to take place elsewhere, and he said the UFC champ would have to conduct himself in a respectful manner inside and outside of the ring. Mayweather was, of course, referring to the embarrassing events that took place after Khabib’s fight against McGregor.
As for why Mayweather would want to fight another MMA superstar, we all know the reason — money.
“He called me out. Come into my world,” Mayweather said, noting that it would have to be a boxing match. “Let’s make it happen. When I face Khabib, of course, I’m getting a nine-figure payday.”
Mayweather insists he would make about $100 million more in guaranteed money than he got when he fought McGregor if he fights Khabib, which seems unrealistic.
It’s hard to tell when Mayweather is serious about something, as he’s a master promoter who knows how to build hype and keep his name in the news. He also said recently that he is going to fight Manny Pacquiao again, which seems a lot more likely to happen than him squaring off against Khabib.