Since his dominant win over Conor McGregor at UFC 229, Khabib Nurmagomedov has been making headlines; mostly for his outside-the-cage antics but also for his sporting excellence. Now, Nurmagomedov is looking to follow in McGregor’s footsteps and try his hand at boxing, and some MMA pundits think he may fare better than “Notorious” did.

UFC analyst and former middleweight champion Michael Bisping recently sat down on his Believe You Me podcast and discussed the potential Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing match that his been bandied about by both parties and Bisping has a spicy take: Mayweather would not be able to stop Nurmagomedov like he did McGregor.

“I swear to God, Khabib would go the distance with Mayweather,” opined Bisping. “He’d go the distance with Mayweather. I’m not saying Khabib is a better boxer than McGregor, he’s not a better striker, he’s not as elusive, he’s not as slick - but he’s got a f**king chin and he’s got cardio for days. And Mayweather, at his age, he was never a knockout guy even though he did have some knockouts. He knocked out England’s very own Ricky Hatton in devastating fashion, but I don’t see it.”

Bisping isn’t the only one who believes this as it appears Las Vegas agrees with him. The opening odds for the Mayweather-McGregor match had McGregor as a +950 underdog but the odds for a prospective match between Nurmagomedov and Mayweather has “The Eagle” as only a +900 underdog, which seems odd considering Nurmagomedov’s purview is primarily in the grappling arts whereas McGregor is a renown striker. But according to Bisping, the striking acumen doesn’t matter all that much considering the gulf between Mayweather and any MMA fighter. Instead, it’s the cardio that will determine how long the fight lasts, and in that respect, Khabib is better than Conor.

“He couldn’t put McGregor down and that’s what Khabib’s saying - you couldn’t put McGregor down, I put McGregor down - but he put McGregor down through fatigue and that was his game plan. McGregor was very, very tired and he started eating shots, and in the end he couldn’t even fight back because he was so exhausted and kind of beat up, so the referee stepped in. That wouldn’t happen against Khabib. Mayweather would probably embarrass him and light him up and pick him apart all night long, but Khabib would probably go 12 rounds. Conor wasn’t far away from going 12 rounds.”

After a feeling out process in the first round, Mayweather ended up dominating McGregor en route to a 10th-round stoppage in their crossover superfight in 2017. However, Mayweather was unable to knock down McGregor, instead hurting him on the feet and then unloading punches until the referee intervened. Conversely, Nurmagomedov was able to drop McGregor in the second round of their fight with a lightning fast overhand right - a highlight that is sure to be played repeatedly should this next crossover bout happen.

But will the fight happen? Most likely not as the narrative for this bout is less compelling than the “once-in-a-lifetime” story of The Money Fight, but don’t rule it out completely. At the end of the day, says Bisping, there is still a lot of money to be made from this fight, especially if it keeps dominating the headlines like it has this past week.

“Mayweather isn’t bothered. . . Khabib, on the flip side, is like, ‘I kind of fancy that,’ because he’s a fighter, he’s a tough motherf**ker,” concluded Bisping. “And he’s not particularly motivated by the money but everybody’s motivated a little bit by potentially $40-$50 million. It wouldn’t be a McGregor type payday, it wouldn’t do those type of numbers, but it’s still gonna be a big payday.

“As of right now, both guys have said they want to do it. That’s the biggest thing.”

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MUST-READ STORIES

Irony. Floyd Mayweather criticizes Khabib Nurmagomedov over brawl: ‘You must conduct yourself like a professional’.

Cowboy. Conor McGregor says ‘now is the time’ to bring UFC octagon to AT&T Stadium.

Hardy. Former NFL player Greg Hardy will return to MMA cage before the end of the year.

Chiesa. Michael Chiesa says family has received nasty messages as backlash from Conor McGregor lawsuit.

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VIDEO STEW

The A-Side Live Chat

KO of the Week.

A nice rundown of MMA gold medalists.

Bold.

Tap machine.

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LISTEN UP

Heavy Hands. Discussing what a 165 lb. division would look like in the UFC.

Fights Gone By. Discussing the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix results.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Now Bellator fighters will call out Canelo instead of Mayweather.

Wouldn’t be at all surprised if Conor-Nate III was in Dallas.

Damn.

Ragin’ Al.

Beef.

Magny.

Speaking of divisions the UFC isn’t adding anytime soon.

Cash her outside.

Fight poster.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Michael Johnson (18-13) vs. Artem Lobov (13-14-1, 1 NC); UFC Moncton, Oct. 27.

Alexey Kunchenko (19-0) vs. Yushin Okami (35-11); UFC Adelaide, Dec. 1.

Katlyn Chookagian (11-1) vs. Jessica Eye (13-6, 1 NC); UFC 231, Dec. 8.

Juan Adams (4-0) vs. Chris de la Rocha (5-2); UFC on FOX 31, Dec. 15.

Adam Milstead (8-2, 1 NC) vs. Mike Rodriguez (9-3); UFC on FOX 31, Dec. 15.

Megan Anderson (11-3) vs. Cat Zingano (10-3); UFC 232, Dec. 29.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2008: Michael Bisping defeated Chris Leben in the main event of UFC 89.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I just want to see these two kickbox. That is the fight we need.

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow!

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EXIT POLL

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