UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is set to defend his title against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on Saturday, April 18 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. However, after rival Conor McGregor scored an impressive win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone to kick off the year, there has been discussion about a potential rematch between the two.
UFC president Dana White appears to believe the Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor rematch is the fight to make, but McGregor didn’t appear to be too keen about the possibility.
Khabib, however, would be willing to accept the fight but it would come at a steep price.
According to Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the lightweight titleholder would take a rematch with McGregor, but only if he was to receive a $100 million payday.
“We also need revenge against Conor, but give us $100 million,” Abdulmanap told Russian outlet RIA Novosti. “The day after the fight against Ferguson, give us that amount, and then why not hold a rematch? I don’t know, maybe Dana White wants to arrange it (for that amount). He needs that fight.”
White has said that Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor II would be one of the biggest fights in combat sports history, and Khabib received $6 million for his last fight against Dustin Poirier, so anything is possible.
In the first fight between Khabib and McGregor, it was the Russian who came away with a dominant submission victory in the fourth round of their UFC 229 headliner. The fight drew 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, the most ever for an MMA event.