Floyd Mayweather does not plan on leaving his comfort zone.
Mayweather has laid out the terms of a potential meeting with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and the undefeated boxing great understandably wants to stack the odds in his favour.
After declaring himself the A side, Mayweather insists that he will only compete against Nurmagomedov under boxing rules.
‘Money’ had previously hinted at a mixed martial arts debut but nobody ever took those suggestions seriously as Mayweather is too smart a fighter to let himself and his brand be damaged by getting humiliated in the Octagon.
The 41-year-old is determined to make his lucrative exhibition boxing match against Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa come to fruition and with his name back in the headlines, Mayweather has revived talk of a clash with the UFC’s 155lbs champ.
“They came to me talking about the Khabib fight,” Mayweather told TMZ Sports. “Khabib called me out, I didn’t call Khabib out.
“They said it has to happen in the Octagon and I said, ‘You just tell me where Khabib has made nine figures before in the Octagon.
“If he hasn’t made nine figures, he’s not the A side. I’m the A side, so if you guys want the fight to happen, you must come my way. My way, my rules.”
After successfully defending his title against Conor McGregor last month, Nurmagomedov called out Mayweather for a monster payday.
And while ‘The Eagle’ would be willing to step into the ring for a boxing debut opposite Mayweather, UFC President Dana White claims there is no truth to the rumours.
“Don’t pay attention to it,” White said. “First of all, the Mayweather team has not approached us at all. Khabib is under contract with the UFC. Floyd is very good about getting his name out there when he wants to.”
