Floyd Mayweather appears to have shown interest in an offer from UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov.
In an Instagram post on Oct. 14, Nurmagomedov wrote: “Hey, let’s go, Floyd. We have to fight now. 50-0 vs. 27-0. Two guys never lose. Let’s go. Why not? Because in the jungle, only one king. Only one king. Of course, I am the king because he cannot drop McGregor but I drop him easily. Let’s go!” In the video, he was with Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Yahoo Sports reported.
Nurmagomedov was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission following an attack after UFC 229, where he defeated Conor McGregor. His $2 million fight purse is also being withheld by the organization.
Mayweather responded to Nurmagomedov’s call-out on Instagram: “CBS, Showtime and MGM Grand get the checkbook out!”
More than a year ago, Mayweather defeated McGregor in a boxing match via TKO in the 10th round. It was the second-largest pay-per-view event in history, drawing 4.3 million buys, ESPN reported.
Mayweather, who has not stepped into the ring since the McGregor bout, has said he will come out of retirement to fight Manny Pacquiao in a rematch later this year.
Nurmagomedov and McGregor have both been temporarily suspended by the NSAC, pending a full investigation into the scenes that marred the end of their bout, ESPN’s Sports Center reported on Thursday, citing a decision by NAC Executive Director Bob Bennet.
The suspensions are due to start Oct. 15, pending a hearing on Oct. 24, during which NSAC officials will consider whether the two fighters will be banned for good.
“We will be filing against Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov,” Commission Chairman Anthony Marne told ESPN. “Because we withheld one purse, we will have to move expeditiously to a complaint and hearing. We have held 100 percent of one of the fighter’s money. Temporary suspensions will be out shortly, and we’re shooting for a final hearing date in November.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov is escorted out of the arena after defeating Conor McGregor in their UFC lightweight championship bout by way of submission during the UFC 229 event inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, on Oct. 6, 2018. (Harry How/Getty Images)
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Nurmagomedov, congratulating him. “Anyone could have jumped [from the cage] in the same way” and called the pre-fight trash talk a “provocation,” referring to what McGregor said. “If we are attacked from the outside, not only you, we could all jump in such a way … there could be hell to pay,” Putin told Nurmagomedov and his father, Abdulmanap.
Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, has threatened to quit the UFC if the organization punishes Zubaira Tukhugov for attacking him in a post-fight scrap.
“I would like to address UFC,” he wrote on Instagram. “Why didn’t you fire anyone when their team attacked the bus and injured a couple of people? They could have killed someone there; why no one says [sic] anything about insulting my homeland, religion, nation, family?”
“If you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me, too. We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise I’ll break it myself.”
Epoch Times reporter Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
