UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, coming off a dominant win against Conor McGregor earlier this month at UFC 229, may now be following in McGregor’s footsteps.
At an event in Russia this weekend, Nurmagomedov called out boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, speaking on camera next to Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe.
“Let’s go Floyd, we have to fight now,” the Dagestan native said. “50-0 vs. 27-0, two guys who never lose. Let’s go, why not? Because in the jungle, there’s only one king. Of course I’m the king because he cannot drop McGregor, but I drop him easily. Let’s go.”
Mayweather took to social media on Monday morning to respond. He posted on Instagram: “CBS, Showtime and MGM Grand get the checkbook out!”
A fight against Nurmagomedov would be Mayweather’s second against a UFC fighter.
Mayweather beat McGregor by 10th-round TKO on Aug. 26, 2017, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in the second-biggest pay-per-view event in history, generating 4.3 million buys.
Mayweather had a $100 million guaranteed purse, and McGregor was guaranteed $30 million.
Mayweather is known as the best boxer of his generation, never losing a bout in his career. He held world titles in five different weight classes.
Nurmagomedov has also not lost as a professional. He claimed the UFC’s lightweight belt at UFC 223 in April, defeating Al Iaquinta by decision. At UFC 229 on Oct. 6, Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor by fourth-round neck crank. After the fight he jumped over the cage and into the crowd to confront Dillon Danis, McGregor’s jiu-jitsu coach, and sparked a brawl among both teams. The repercussions from that postfight melee are still to be determined by both the UFC and the Nevada Athletic Commission.