Outside Source
Khabib Nurmagomedov wasn’t interested in a fight with Floyd Mayweather. | Getty/UFC
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s coach claims the former UFC champ turned down a big payday.
Javier Mendez says Nurmagomedov was offered a boxing matchup against former multiple-division boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather. However, “The Eagle” turned it down after some consideration. Mendez also clarified that he doesn’t know whether Mayweather was even offered the fight or if he would have accepted.
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“There was a big money fight also with Floyd Mayweather that was thrown around,” Mendez told Hikmat Wehbi. “He was thinking about it, no wrestling, just boxing… He was offered a potential match with Floyd Mayweather and he turned it down. I don’t know if Floyd would have accepted or Floyd even knew about it. I just know Khabib turned it down. So I don’t know if it even went back to Floyd’s corner.”
Crossover Boxing Matches Continue to Sell
Conor McGregor’s rise to stardom also led to hype about the notion of crossover boxing matches between MMA fighters and pugilists. McGregor fought Mayweather in a mammoth superfight in 2017, the last time Dana White permitted a UFC fighter to compete in crossover boxing. McGregor was stopped by “Money” in the tenth round. “Notorious” challenged Nurmagomedov for the lightweight championship at UFC 229 next year, where the Dagestani champ submitted him.
Meanwhile, crossover boxing continues to sell, as YouTubers like Jake Paul have made a career out of beating MMA fighters. However, White isn’t very enthusiastic about the idea of his fighters trying their hand at the Sweet Science, adamantly standing his ground even when former heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou left the organisation over failed negotiations.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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