UFC president Dana White raised an interesting possibility recently when he said Conor McGregor wants to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in Russia after his much-anticipated Aug. 26 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
McGregor confirmed over the weekend that a fight with Nurmagomedov in Russia is one option he’s exploring.
“That would be a spectacle,” McGregor told BT Sport during the world tour to promote his fight with Mayweather. “It would be like something out of ‘Rocky.’ I suppose this whole story’s like a ‘Rocky’ story, right? So why not face a man in his home country, and in a crazy place like Russia?”
Nurmagomedov, a native of Russia, is UFC’s No. 2 ranked lightweight behind McGregor and owns a 24-0 record. He’s expected to fight Tony Ferguson at some point, although they’ve already had three head-to-head matchups canceled, including a bout scheduled for UFC 209 in March that Nurmagomedov pulled out of after being hospitalized for a bad weight cut.
McGregor stopped short of confirming he’ll return to UFC by the end of the year, but he said he believes that’ll be the case, and a fight with Nurmagomedov would make sense, unless The Notorious instead opts for a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz.
Thumbnail photo via Steve Flynn/USA TODAY Sports Images
