Khabib Nurmagomedov had a $100 million offer to fight Floyd Mayweather and Dana White was 'on board,' manager says
- Khabib Nurmagomedov was once offered $100 million to fight Floyd Mayweather in a boxing rules match, according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz.
- Nurmagomedov could have fought Mayweather in front of 100,000 fans in Russia shortly after beating Conor McGregor in 2018.
- Instead, he enhanced his mixed martial arts legacy with back-to-back stoppage wins over Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.
- Though Khabib is retired, Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports that the one fight which could lure him back into the UFC Octagon is a mega-match involving Georges St. Pierre.
Khabib Nurmagomedov was once offered $100 million to fight Floyd Mayweather and the UFC boss Dana White was "on board."
That's according to the retired UFC champion's manager Ali Abdelaziz, who told TMZ Sports that the match would have used boxing rules.
"We got offered $100million to fight Floyd Mayweather," Abdelaziz told the online tabloid.
"Dana White was on board, everybody was on board. But, you know, Khabib is an MMA fighter. If Floyd wanted to come to fight, get his little ass whooped, no problem."
Shortly after submitting Conor McGregor with a tight neck crank in 2018, Nurmagomedov met with the Russian Boxing Federation to discuss a potential Floyd Mayweather fight - which was slated to take place in front of 100,000 fans in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
Mayweather even said at the time: "We can make the fight happen."
The fight didn't happen, and Nurmagomedov did not compete until the following year when he finished Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi.
He returned to the United Arab Emirates in 2020 to beat Justin Gaethje. After sending Gaethje to sleep, Nurmagomedov fell to his knees in tears mourning the death of his father, before announcing an abrupt retirement.
The UFC has tried to coax Nurmagomedov into a 30th bout
Despite Nurmagomedov's retirement speech, his status as an active fighter in the UFC roster remains unclear.
In the weeks after the October victory, Nurmagomedov's inner circle including his trainer Javier Mendez, promoter White, and manager Abdelaziz all suggested the fighter will come back for one more bout.
Though Nurmagomedov said he had no "competitive interest," he raised hopes of a comeback by saying he would meet White.
Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports that the fight which could lure Nurmagomedov back into the Octogan involves another retired athlete - Georges St. Pierre, the former two-weight UFC champion and a true great of mixed martial arts.
"I think if Georges St. Pierre is serious about coming back to fight, I could see it happening … that would get Khabib up," the talent manager said.
And if there's one man to make it happen then it's White, according to Abdelaziz. "Dana is really good at getting people to do things."
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