Khabib Nurmagomedov left an incredible undefeated legacy when he retired from MMA in 2021. The one thing about ‘The Eagle’ – you know what he’s going to do to you but you probably won’t be able to stop it. That was a common sentiment among fighters who faced him, owing to his relentless wrestling, grappling, and submission skills. One man who Nurmagomedov failed to finish, despite being capable was Al Iaquinta for the vacant title at UFC 223. Why was that? According to Nurmagomedov, he was playing around in that fight, trying to showcase his ‘Ali boxing skills’. Clearly, Khabib Nurmagomedov is a fan of boxing, but what does his coach Javier Mendez think of him actually entering a boxing ring?

Taking to his YouTube podcast, coach Mendez shut down the possibility of Nurmagmedeov entering the boxing ring – “He can’t box, nope, he can’t box. If he wants to come back [and box], he has to – the UFC has to give him permission. They have to let him do it, and of course, you know if they let him do it, they’ll do what they did with Conor [McGregor]. They’ll get a big chunk [of money] too. They’re [all about] business, it’s a business. What do you expect, you know? So, they know what they’re doing.”

However, why is boxing so relevant to the Dagestani? Well, back in 2020, Khabib Nurmagomedov tried to ‘pull off a Conor McGregor‘ by issuing a challenge to Mayweather. “[We can do] 11 rounds of boxing and 1 round of MMA. 11 rounds of three minutes. Before the last round – the 12th round – [we’ll do] five minutes of MMA. Five minutes with me [and] I’m going to take him down and maul this guy.”, a supremely confident Nurmagomedov had proclaimed. He even started getting $100 million offers from Saudi Arabia to make this happen but to no further development.

In an interview with Adam Cattarall, Khabib Nurmagomedov, himself recently spoke about why he didn’t go ahead with challenging Floyd Mayweather. When asked if a potential boxing match with Mayweather excited him, the former UFC champion said, “Right now – no. You know, like, everybody knows I’m not a boxer. But, I have [almost] 30 fights in the UFC, and I fought with a lot of great strikers, and nobody even [managed to] touch my face.”

While Nurmagomedov is primarily a wrestler and a grappler in MMA, he does seem like he enjoys striking, particularly boxing. This was evident in his fight against Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 when the former lightweight champion spent a good part of the fight trying to box his Bostonian counterpart.

“I try little bit to move like Muhammad Ali” – When Khabib Nurmagomedov channeled the boxing great

Among Khabib Nurmagomedov’s performances inside the Octagon, the one where he won the title against Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 was the most abysmal. The lightweight champion failed to launch any meaningful grappling exchanges against the tough-as-nails Iaquinta and struggled to submit him. Still, that didn’t stop ‘The Eagle’ from having fun in that fight.

The 29-0 fighter opened up about why he chose to stand and trade with Al Iaquinta, landing a surprising 134 significant strikes – the most he’s ever landed in a fight – against Iaquinta’s 41 strikes. What made the greatest grappling artist in MMA go down the boxing route in the UFC 223 MMA fight? Speaking at the post-fight presser, ‘The Eagle’ said, “This week, I watched too much Muhammad Ali and [Joe] Frazer fights. Because like, only great fights make you a great athlete, you know? I think that’s why I tried to little bit, move like Muhammad Ali. But you had to watch out, how I moved, you know?”

“Jab, jab, move, jab jab jab. Not [throwing] a hard punch, jab, jab, move, jab. Sometimes, [I] take him down, jab, move. To be honest, like in my mind, I wanted to stay [in there for] 25 minutes, that’s why it was a long fight.”, said Nurmagomedov of the strategy that night, to visibly amused media members.

It’s been four years since ‘The Eagle’ retired from active competition. While he chose to stay away from the world of MMA for a brief period in between, ‘The Eagle’ is an active part of Islam Makhachev‘s training camp, returning to corner Makhachev in his UFC 302 fight against Poirier, after two years of being away.

What do you think of Khabib Nurmagomedov competing in boxing? Do you think he has any chance of winning, against say, Floyd Mayweather? Let us know in the comments below.