Nurmagomedov was recently interviewed by RT Sport. He confirmed that a fight with Floyd Mayweather was being discussed. ‘The Eagle’ revealed that the precise amount he was promised for the battle was not $100 million, but something close to it.
Nurmagomedov stated, “The enticement is always there. 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 [it was] around that.”
Nurmagomedov’s most recent fight was at UFC 254 in October 2020. Khabib revealed that he was looking forward to the bout with Mayweather.
However, Nurmagomedov broke down after his father’s death. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov had been Khabib’s instructor since the beginning and had raised him both at home and in the gym. In light of this, Khabib vowed that he will never longer compete in the UFC without the presence of his father.
Why did Khabib decline the opportunity to fight Mayweather?
The offer made to Nurmagomedov to fight Floyd Mayweather was pretty intriguing. Nurmagomedov even stated after retiring that he would be willing to fight again if anything hard enough piqued his interest.
So, why did he hesitate to face Floyd Mayweather? In an episode of ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson,’ his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, provided the answer to that question.
According to Abdelaziz, “Khabib got offered $100 million after he was retired to fight Floyd Mayweather. $100 million. You can ask Floyd, you can ask everybody, and Khabib said ‘no, I’m retired, I told my mother I’m retired, I’m gonna 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’. He comes from a Muslim culture, we respect our mothers very dearly, we can’t go to heaven without our mother’s permission.”
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