UFC President Dana White has said that retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. must come to the UFC if he wishes to fight Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Mayweather called for a fight with the undefeated Nurmagomedov following his fourth-round submission victory over Conor McGregor earlier this month and said that he can make the fight happen.
Nurmagomedov also appeared open to a fight with Mayweather but stipulated that the bout must not take place in Las Vegas as he awaits a looming disciplinary hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) following his post-fight melee at UFC 229.
However, while both fighters appear to be open to a potential crossover bout, White insisted that such a fight would have to take place in the UFC and that he would not engage in another boxing match following McGregor’s professional boxing debut with Mayweather last year.
“If Mayweather wants to fight, come fight, come to the UFC,” he told TMZ.
“We’re not boxing again, we did that once, that’s over. You wanna fight, you come fight… a real fight.”
Nurmagomedov will discover his fate with the NSAC on December 10 but White said that Tony Ferguson will most likely be his next opponent despite that particular fight falling apart on four previous occasions.
“They’ve got to go before the NSAC which is scheduled for December and we’ll see what happens,” added White.
“Tony Ferguson is the right fight, he didn’t lose the belt in a fight so it’s the right fight.
“It’s the fight to make, we’ll see how this whole thing plays out, it all depends on the suspension.”
