Reuters
Floyd Mayweather.
- Floyd Mayweather has said he is fighting the UFC's newest star Khabib Nurmagomedov.
- The fight would be Mayweather's second against a mixed martial artist, having defeated Conor McGregor in the tenth round of a similar crossover bout in 2017.
- Mayweather even called McGregor his "leftovers" as he scoffed at Nurmagomedov's recent fourth round submission victory over the Irishman.
- A boxing rules contest against Nurmagomedov shows Mayweather has moved on since announcing on social media that he will engage his old rival Manny Pacquiao in a rematch this December.
- Pacquiao will likely fight Adrien Broner, instead.
Floyd Mayweather appears to be giving up on a Manny Pacquiao rematch as he says he's fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov - and he even called Conor McGregor his "leftovers."
"We fighting," Mayweather told TMZ Sports in response to growing rumours that he could welcome the UFC lightweight world champion Nurmagomedov into a boxing ring for a crossover fight.
Nurmagomedov has been thrust into the limelight after he dominated McGregor at UFC 229. The Russian wrestler out-muscled McGregor, dropped him with a thudding right hand in the second round, and then submitted him with a tight neck crank in the fourth on October 6.
A post-fight melee broke out immediately after Nurmagomedov's win when the 30-year-old jumped over the octagon fence and charged at McGregor's cageside friend Dillon Danis. He currently faces a lengthy suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission, pending an investigation into the brawls.
Nurmagomedov - who calls himself "the Mayweather of MMA" - is contracted by the UFC but has reportedly been headhunted by professional wrestling firm WWE. He could even transition into the ring for a boxing rules contest against Mayweather - something the American himself seems interested in.
"Oh absolutely we fighting," Mayweather said. "I'm my own boss. I can't say what's going on on Khabib's end, but on my end we can make it happen. He called me out, so he's got to come to my world."
Nurmagomedov and Mayweather both have recent victories over the Irish striker McGregor. Nurmagomedov made McGregor tap with a submission, while Mayweather stopped McGregor on his feet in the 10th round of a Las Vegas show in 2017.
Mayweather scoffed at Nurmagomedov's signature win by claiming McGregor is his "leftovers." According to Mayweather, Nurmagomedov said that "when he hit McGregor, he knocked him down. He said I didn't knock McGregor down. Khabib, you got my leftovers. Whoopty-do."
Mayweather has moved on from Manny Pacquiao
Isaac Brekken/AP
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
A crossover fight against Nurmagomedov seemingly trumps Mayweather's previous plan to fight Manny Pacquiao.
Mayweather defeated Pacquiao in an uneventful decision win in 2015 but Pacquiao's knockout victory over Lucas Matthysse in July pushed him back to the forefront of the fight game.
The two fighters teased a December rematch on their social media accounts in September, but nothing has materialised since.
In fact, Pacquiao has seemingly been working on an alternative showdown against the four-weight world champion Adrien Broner. "The fight is 90 percent done," Pacquiao said, according to PhilStar.com.
Mayweather, too, is moving on from a Pacquiao rematch and has left the ball firmly in Nurmagomedov's court in order for negotiations to continue. All the fight needs, Mayweather says, is clearance from the UFC.