Khabib Nurmagomedov actually wants to face Floyd Mayweather before his retirement and he has several reasons behind pursuing the fight.
As the undefeated UFC lightweight champion anxiously awaits his next assignment inside the Octagon, Nurmagomedov admits that a showdown against the legendary boxer would definitely be on the list of fights he’d like to land before retirement.
Mayweather most recently competed in an exhibition bout in Japan where he needed less than two minutes to dismantle 20-year old flyweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa at RIZIN 14 in Japan.
The retired boxer has teased a potential fight against Nurmagomedov previously and it seems that the Russian wrecking machine is definitely interested even if it doesn’t make much sense on paper.
In a new interview with Submission Radio from Australia, Nurmagomedov explains why Mayweather is on the list of fights he’d like the pursue before calling it a career.
“Because he’s old now,” Nurmagomedov said about Mayweather. “If you talk about like if I’m gonna compete with young lions in boxing, of course it’s gonna be very tough for me. Like, even if you talk about Canelo [Alvarez] or [Gennady] Golovkin, these guys are dangerous. But Mayweather now is old, 41, 42 years old. You know, but he’s a very big name.
“If we can take very big fish, why not? A lot of people don’t understand about age, about when you did in competition. Like, they think, ‘oh, Mayweather and that’s it,’ or, ‘Conor [McGregor] and that’s it’. They don’t know what’s inside. We can take everything what they have. You know, all his 50-0, we can take this because he’s too old, too small, and it’s gonna be smart decision for my future, for legacy, for money, for fans, for everywhere.”
Nurmagomedov wasn’t ready to commit to anything in regards to his next fight, mostly because he has to await an upcoming hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Jan. 29 to know when he can return to action.
Nurmagomedov faces possible sanctions for his role in the post fight brawl that broke out after his fight against Conor McGregor ended this past October at UFC 229.
Once that’s settled, Nurmagomedov can get back to business with his next title defense.
As far as how much time he has left in the sport, Nurmagomedov isn’t going to put an exact number on it just yet but in an ideal world if he had three fights left in his career, he knows exactly the opponents he’d like to face.
“I don’t know right now but why not maybe [Georges] St. Pierre, [Tony] Ferguson and Mayweather,” Nurmagomedov stated. “It will be these three guys and we can retire and become the greatest athlete of all time.”
