UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev recently said on the ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast that one would have to “be stupid to say no” to fighting Conor McGregor. For one simple reason: money. After all, despite being three years out of the octagon, the Irishman remains by far the biggest star in all of MMA.

So popular is the UFC’s biggest showman that his comeback bout against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29 has already become the highest-grossing gate event in UFC history. And now, as the date for his return to the octagon approaches, Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov manager Ali Abdelaziz think a clash between McGregor and Makhachev is a very real possibility.

Manager on why Conor McGregor vs. Islam Makhachev will get the UFC’s blessings

Speaking to Submission Radio, Abdelaziz spoke about the possibility of a Makhachev-McGregor bout shortly and whether the champ and the UFC would be on board. To which the manager felt that if ‘Mac’ could put on a show at UFC 303 and knockout Chandler spectacularly, there would be a very real case to be made for him to fight Makhachev next.

“Like I told you couple seconds ago, it’s a crazy sport Conor might go there knockout Chandler first round. And you know, after that he’s one of the biggest star in the sport, like him or hate him. Or, you know, he tells the UFC ‘hey I want a title shot’, Islam want a title shot, that can be your next title shot. Islam is not going to say no to this fight, it’s a big fight, it’s a big name, it’s a lot a lot more money,” he said.

Abdelaziz felt that, given the Irishman’s popularity, if he and Makhachev both approached the UFC wanting to fight each other, the Dana White-led promotion would ultimately acquiesce. Simply because the promotion wouldn’t be able to say no to the numbers their fight would do.

“He’s have massive star you know I think he’s a piece of sh**, but he is a massive star. You can’t take this away from him, with the history with Khabib and with him with Islam. It will be all over again one of the biggest fights you can make today, you know. And one thing I know about Dana White he likes money, and he like business,” he added.

However, the 36-year-old would have to get clean and stop partying if he were to seriously have a chance of competing with the champ, who looks nigh unstoppable at the moment. “Listen it’s very possible, but you know, Conor have to get off the bottle and he have to leave the drugs alone and focus,” Abdelaziz declared.

‘Notorious’, of course, was seen partying late into the night at his Black Forge Inn pub a few weeks ago. So close to UFC 303, when most expect him to be dedicated to training, the video had fans concerned about his preparations. Even Dana White had to weigh in on the matter. The UFC boss tried to downplay the video, reminding people of GOAT contender Jon Jones’ example.

‘Bones’ is infamous for partying even a week before his fights. And if ‘Mac’ can put on an impressive performance against Chandler, the Makhachev bout would be a wildly popular prospect, especially because of the very real enmity and bad blood between the two parties.

McGregor and Makhachev beef goes back to UFC 229

As Abdelaziz alluded to, the potential success of Makhachev-McGregor would be because of the ‘history’ between them. The bad blood between ‘Mac’ and the Dagestanis goes back to his historic UFC 229 clash against Khabib Nurmagomedov. In the run-up to their epic clash, not only had the Irishman attacked a bus carrying Nurmagomedov and his team, but he also insulted the latter’s family, country, and even religion.

Which predictably incensed ‘The Eagle’, who proceeded to submit McGregor and trash talk him in the second round. But that was not all, and all hell broke loose after the fight ended. ‘The Eagle’, with his adrenaline pumping, was goaded by the Dubliner’s corner into attacking them. Nurmagomedov then jumped over the octagon to attack McGregor’s corner. Which prompted two of ‘Khabib’s cornermen to attack McGregor in the octagon.

Since then, the Irishman has missed no opportunity to attack Nurmagomedov or his Dagestani cohort, including Makhachev. Given this beef between McGregor and the Dagestani, a fight between him and the most prominent Dagestani star in the promotion at the moment would be the definition of a mega-fight. Possibly even of a similar magnitude as his clash with Khabib. UFC 229, of course, is still the most successful UFC event in history. And if Khabib were to be in his protege’s corner for a McGregor fight, no record would be safe.