Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje. Those are the two names on every fight fan’s lips right now, and it’s just a matter of time before the pair go head-to-head at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the UFC have been hosting thrilling events each week, and Khabib vs Gaethje, on October 24th, promises to be one of the best ones yet – if not, the bout of the year!
Due to his impressive power, The Highlight is considered to be Khabib’s most dangerous opponent to date. However – according to the latest odds on Khabib vs Gaethje – the Russian is a heavy favourite with the bookies to win the bout.
Already, people are turning their attention to what happens after the fight, with UFC President Dana White claiming that he plans to finally deliver Khabib vs Ferguson – a much anticipated bout, which has fallen through five times in as many years – if The Eagle beats Gaethje. Khabib has also been linked with a massive rematch against The Notorious Conor McGregor, who he famously defeated back in October 2018.
However, away from the Octagon, it is rumoured that the Russian could turn his attention to the boxing ring – with multiple fighters claiming they are prepared to take on The Eagle. The first of which is the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather.
The 43-year-old, who boasts an impressive 50-0 record, famously beat McGregor in the ring back in 2017, and has revealed that he would come out of retirement again to face the Irishman and Khabib – insisting he would want $300m per fight.
“I had my time, I had my era, so it’s these young fighters’ era now,” Mayweather said.
“But it’s OK for me to go fight a Khabib or a Conor and pick up – with those two fights alone I could pick up 600 million [dollars]. So that don’t hurt.”
The Eagle has also been linked with a fight against four-weight world champion Canelo Álvarez. Broadcasters DAZN are believed to be on the lookout for ‘premium’ opponents for Mexican Álvarez to go head-to-head with, and – according to boxing journalist Dan Rafael – Khabib fits the bill.
DAZN approved Callum Smith & BJS for Canelo but not as “premium” guys & wanted to dramatically cut license fee. I’m told DAZN would consider (not joking) De La Hoya, Jorge Masvidal & Khabib “premium” foes even though Oscar is 47, not since ’08 & other guys aren’t boxers. (more)
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) September 9, 2020
Khabib has even fuelled the rumours himself, claiming that White has promised him something big after the Gaethje fight.
“I don’t think (I’ll retire after this fight). We have a couple (of) options. We’re going to think about this after this fight,” Khabib said.
“Dana told me after this fight, he has something special for me.
“But I told him, please keep this, after fight we’re going to talk. He says he has very big things after this fight for me. We’ll see.”
It looks like we’ll have to wait until after his bout with Gaethje to see if Khabib will actually enter the ring to face the likes of Mayweather and Canelo. However, with the whopping amount of money that comes with these sorts of events, we definitely wouldn’t rule it out!