When it comes to a fighter like Floyd Mayweather, whether he is retired or not, you never really know what he has up his sleeves. Last year, Mayweather pulled off n unexpected move when he faced off with UFC superstar Conor McGregor inside of the boxing ring inside of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Mayweather vs. McGregor will forever go down as one of the craziest events in sports history. While many were opposed to the fight, there were several who were interested, as the match drew over four million pay-per-view purchases on SHOWTIME pay per view, second only to Mayweather’s fight vs. Manny Pacquiao two years prior.
And now, with Mayweather hinting about a possible return, we very well could see him and Khabib squaring off. Khabib’s popularity has sky-rocked following his TKO victory over McGregor last month, as he viciously choked out the Irish fighter following some exhilarating action.
Khabib then challenged Mayweather to a showdown, but it remains to be unseen whether we would see it inside of an Octagon or boxing ring. Mayweather has definitely expressed his interest, and even seems more determined to face Khabib as opposed to a rematch with Pacquiao, who he told fans he would be facing via an Instagram video he posted in September.
One person who seems skeptical about all of this is UFC president Dana White. While White does admit that he recently met with associates of Mayweather recently to discuss the potential for a fight vs. Nurmagomedov, he doesn’t see the super fight coming off.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” White stated to ESPN recently. “I don’t think the fight would happen in the UFC, but they didn’t say no.”
White doesn’t seem to appreciate that Mayweather, who lured McGregor into a boxing ring, wants another boxing showdown. White would like to see it the other way around.
“We went over there, we boxed him,” White said. “If he wants to do it again, he has to come to the UFC. I don’t think it’s realistic at all, but I didn’t think the [McGregor] boxing match was either. So, we’ll see.”
Who knows what is really going on behind the scenes. One thing for sure is that this fight could generate a ridiculous amount of money, so you can never say never, especially when Mayweather is involved.
And from Khabib’s perspective, he is continuing to apply pressure towards Floyd regarding the fight. The other day he took to his own Instagram and posted a flashback video that Mayweather initially posted. The video is of the Grand Rapids star stepping into the Octagon and looking around, an obvious tease to fans about the possibility of him fighting via Mixed Martial Arts rules.
“Where are you?” Khabib stated in the post. It’s obvious he’s chomping at the bit to make this happen. But let’s see if White is right or wrong this time around.
