Khamzat Chimaev has some interesting ideas on what he’d like to do after beating Sean Strickland at UFC 328 on May 9th in Newark, New Jersey.
During a media scrum in the Jaxxon Podcast warehouse, a chilled out Chimaev softly discussed what motivated him these days, and a lot of his answers came down to money. He claimed not to care about the middleweight title he now holds, and suggested fame and prestige has nothing on a padded bank account.
“How you can’t love the millions?” Chimaev asked. “If you’re
human, you should love the money.”
And in that quest for money, Chimaev suggested he’d like to face Conor McGregor in a boxing match down the road.
“Probably would be Zuffa Boxing with Conor [McGregor],” he said when asked if any goal would get him excited. “Maybe that one. We just box. I’m not gonna move over to the boxing. I will forever be a UFC fighter. But maybe if Zuffa gives a chance, box with Conor. If Conor want to accept that, would be nice.”
When asked if he thought the UFC and parent company TKO would allow it, Chimaev simply smiled and said, “Why not?”
“We’re going to work on [the boxing],” he added. “Right now we’re working on MMA. But we’re going to go for the boxing match. Gonna work just on that. Working. All the time. Every day. Boxing. MMA.”
“Conor is a good boxer, one of the best boxers in the UFC. It would be nice to try it. Go there, fight that guy. Good money, too. Better than Sean Strickland.”
Chimaev is set to make UFC champion money, probably somewhere between three and ten million per fight. That’s nothing to sneeze at, but even the top paid guys in the UFC dream of being plucked from the MMA rotation and dropped into boxing where they can be showered in real money.
Zuffa Boxing has access to Saudi money and they’re not afraid to spend it, as proven by Conor Benn’s recent $15 million payday for a forgettable match on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s comeback. Fury reportedly made $25 million that night against soft rebound Arslanbek Makhmudov, still a far cry from the $80 to $100 million he’s commanded per fight in the past.
Conor McGregor also made around $100 million when he fought Floyd Mayweather. So keep that number in mind when you hear Khamzat Chimaev ask to box McGregor. Does a fight between the two make sense? No. McGregor did his best work at featherweight, while Chimaev is on the verge of light heavyweight. McGregor is old and on his way out, while Chimaev is in his prime. The whole thing sound silly … unless you’re Khamzat and only care about the number on your paycheck.
“When I saw [the McGregor vs. Aldo] fight and heard how much money he made, that’s when I got motivated to start MMA,” Khamzat said.
