UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor wants to fight top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov in his home country of Russia.
UFC President Dana White says McGregor wants to defend his title against Nurmagomedov after he fights Floyd “Money” Mayweather in a boxing match.
“You know what Conor told me? ‘I want Khabib in Russia,’” White told MMAjunkie. “Isn’t he (expletive) awesome? He’s like, ‘I want Khabib, in Russia.’ He’s awesome. Conor McGregor is a (expletive) unicorn. There’s nothing like him. He’s working on boxing Floyd Mayweather and then he’s talking about fighting Khabib in Russia right after.”
McGregor will be making his professional boxing debut when he fights Mayweather on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas.
McGregor has never defended his UFC championship. He won the lightweight title back in November after knocking out then-champion Eddie Alvarez.
McGregor is rumored to make his UFC return in December. Even though he says he wants Nurmagomedov, that may not be who he gets. White says Nurmagomedov still needs to fight fellow lightweight contender Tony Ferguson.
“Those guys (have) got to fight,” White said. “It would have seemed a lot worse if those two guys fought (at UFC 209), and they were all sitting around waiting. It didn’t happen. That fight still needs to happen. So this thing could time out perfectly.”
