Khabib Nurmagomedov has confirmed that he rejected a huge offer to fight boxing legend, Floyd Mayweather in Saudi Arabia.
MMA manager, Ali Abdelaziz who oversaw the career of Nurmagomedov recently revealed his client turned down $100 million to fight Mayweather.
“Khabib got offered $100 million after he was retired to fight Floyd Mayweather,” Abdelaziz said in a recent appearance on the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast. “You can ask everybody. Khabib said, ‘No, I’m retired. I told my mother I’m retired. I’m going to keep my word to my mother. If my mother told me to fight again, maybe I will. But right now, she told me not to fight.”
‘The Eagle’ retired following his submission victory against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October 2020. Nurmagomedov gave fans and the UFC president, Dana White hope by holding onto the belt and staying in the USADA testing pool for a few months before officially confirming his earlier this year.
During a recent interview with RT Sports, Nurmagomedov confirmed he turned down a big offer to fight Mayweather although he’s not sure if it was as much as $100 million.
“The enticement is always there,” Nurmagomedov said when asked if he was tempted to accept a fight with Mayweather. “There were such discussions with Saudi Arabia. They wanted me to fight there. I don’t know about $100 million. That was not the exact amount but about that.”
Mayweather will instead fight YouTube star, turned professional boxer, Logan Paul on June 6. The fight is set to take place in Miami and will be available on Showtime pay-per-view.
The title vacated by Nurmagomedov has since been won by Charles Oliveira who impressively dispatched of Michael Chandler inside two rounds at UFC 262 to claim the 155lb strap
Do you think Khabib Nurmagomedov should’ve accepted the mega-money offer to fight Floyd Mayweather?
