Team Khabib Nurmagomedov promises special rules fight with Floyd Mayweather
UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team are currently focused on a lightweight title fight with top contender Tony Ferguson, but once that’s over, they’re hoping for a fight with undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr.
According to the Nurmagomedov patriarch Abdulmanap, the hope is for a special rules bout with Mayweather: 11 rounds contested under boxing rules, and a lone, 12th round contested under the full MMA rule-set.
“Mayweather has statistics on fights of 50 wins and zero losses, he is the greatest in boxing and he wants to fight with the same champion who did not lose a single fight, with Khabib,” the elder Nurmagomedov told Tass.ru (via Google Translate). “Everything is fine, but now we have Tony Ferguson on the line.
“We said a long time ago: let us finish with Tony, after that we will work with [the team of Ukrainian boxer Vasily] Lomachenko for six months, then there will be a boxing fight,” Nurmagomedov added. “We offer any day anywhere, with only one condition: 11 rounds in boxing and one in mixed martial arts. We will stand 11 rounds against the best boxer, so why not go one round according to the rules of MMA with us? But all things will happen after Tony.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov is currently a perfect 28-0 in MMA. He’ll look to improve to 29-0 against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 this April in Brooklyn, New York.
Floyd Mayweather, meanwhile, is 50-0 as a pro boxer. While he’s ostensibly retired, he’s long been teasing a comeback. Perhaps this could be the opportunity to convince him to strap his gloves on once again.
What do you think of this plan from Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team? Do you think Floyd Mayweather will bite? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/23/2020.