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Floyd Mayweather Is Game To Fight Undefeated UFC Star Khabib Nurmagomedov
Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. fully plans to compete against UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov, but there are important stipulations to be agreed upon for that to happen. Over the past 21 years, Mayweather has accumulated a perfect 50-0 record in the ring, making him one of the all-time greats. Known primarily for his defensive style, Mayweather has 27 knockouts on his record, with the last coming in 2011 after Victor Ortiz was defeated while looking at the referee.
Despite Mayweather’s professional accomplishments, he’s become known for his questionable behavior and legal problems outside the ring, much like UFC star Conor McGregor. In August 2017, the two superstars competed in a highly-promoted pay-per-view crossover event, in which Mayweather earned his 50th victory with a 10th round TKO. Earlier this month, Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor for the Lightweight Championship via a fourth round submission, which resulted in one of the sport’s most shocking post-fight confrontations.
Per TMZ, Mayweather is ready to fight Nurmagomedov, but the proposed match must take place in a Las Vegas boxing ring. While speaking on-camera, Mayweather addressed the UFC’s star recent behavior, along with his public call-out of the boxer. For most of the spontaneous interview, money is the main topic of conversation, as Mayweather lists a specific scenario that would lead to his biggest payday yet. Currently retired, the boxer famously earned over $200 million for “The Fight of the Century” against Manny Pacquiaio in 2015, and reportedly made another $300 million for “The Money Fight” against McGregor (which even cracked the box office top 10 last summer).
Last month, both Mayweather and Pacquiao teased a possible re-match with Instagram posts, and the latest Nurmagomedov rumors suggest some type of super fight will indeed take place once the parties involved can agree. Over the past several years, Mayweather has repeatedly come out of retirement to promote his matches, even teasing a possible crossover into the UFC. Now that McGregor has lost some of his selling appeal, Mayweather has quickly turned his attention to Nurmagomedov, widely regarded as the most dominant pound-for-pound athlete of his sport. While the Russian athlete seems capable of successfully co-promoting a super fight through trash talk, he’s primarily known for his wrestling technique. Given Nurmagomedov’s on-going legal issues and Mayweather’s career-long strategy of avoiding punches, this super fight seems unlikely.
Whenever combat sports makes headlines, fans and promoters can likely expect "retired" boxers to hype a proposed event. Even if the Nurmagomedov match never happens, it’s impressive that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still willing to physically compete with the world’s best fighters at 41 years old.
