UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov turned down a $100million offer to face Floyd Mayweather and told Mike Tyson: ‘I never fight for money’.
Nurmagomedov retired in October in the first bout after the death of his influential father and coach Abdulmanap, who passed away in July.
He has since snubbed a UFC comeback and even the massive purse to face boxing legend Mayweather in the Middle East.
Nurmagomedov, the former unbeaten UFC lightweight champion, hinted no amount of money could prise him back.
He said on Tyson’s podcast: “I don’t wanna make boxing community upset with me.
“Of course money makes sense too. But I never fight for money. Money is good, but most of the time it is bad.
“Money brings you to the situation that you have never been, and you don’t know how to act when you have so much money.
“It is a little bit dangerous. In this business, I don’t come to make money. I come here for legacy.”
Nurmagomedov, 32, hung up the gloves immediately after beating Justin Gaethje, also 32, and revealed the decision was made by his mother.
The Russian star has been offered a lucrative return to face Georges St-Pierre, 40, who was his father’s dream fight.
Money brings you to the situation that you have never been, and you don’t know how to act when you have so much money.
Khabib Nurmagomedov
But not even that could tempt Khabib into changing his mind.
Mayweather, 44, did start talks with Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz and UFC president Dana White was said to be on board.
Abdelaziz said to Tyson: “Listen, we got offered $100million to fight Floyd Mayweather. Dana White was on board, everybody was on board.
“But, you know, Khabib is an MMA fighter. If Floyd wanted to come to fight, get his little ass whooped, no problem.”
Mayweather, 44, retired officially in 2017 after beating Khabib’s arch rival Conor McGregor, 33, in a fight White helped promote.
The American great has returned twice since, both in exhibition bouts, starting against featherweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in 2018.
But even more surprisingly, he came out of retirement for a pay-per-view spectacle against YouTuber Logan Paul, 26, who weighed TWO STONE more.
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It ended without a winner after Paul amazingly survived all eight rounds, leaving Nurmagomedov unimpressed.
He told Russian media in June: “What’s there to say? They came out, made money. It’s purely business.
“There was no competitive aspect to it, old Mayweather came out, they sparred and made money – what else is there to say?”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
