Islam Makhachev is running out of mountains to climb in MMA. He’s the UFC welterweight champion, the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, and the man many see as the heir to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s dominance.
Now he’s looking at a different arena entirely. Four ropes, big gloves, and a familiar name.
Conor McGregor.
A New Battlefield for an Old Rivalry
Speaking to Ushatayka, Makhachev didn’t bother to play coy. The idea of facing McGregor in a boxing ring doesn’t just interest him. It excites him.
According to Makhachev, he’s convinced the matchup would be brutally one-sided once the early storm passes.
“Yes maybe he’s dangerous in the first round, but after that I don’t think he has any chance. Honestly, regardless of the purse I’d box (Conor),” Makhachev said.
That line tells its own story. This isn’t about chasing a payday, at least not from his perspective. It’s about testing himself in a different code against the sport’s biggest star — and, in his mind, dismantling him there too.
McGregor’s Star Power vs. Makhachev’s Prime
On paper, it’s an odd proposal. McGregor is coming off multiple losses and nowhere near a UFC welterweight title shot. In the cage, a matchup with Makhachev makes little competitive sense right now.
In the ring, though, the equation changes.
Boxing strips away Makhachev’s most feared weapons: the suffocating wrestling, the chain grappling, the top pressure that breaks opponents. It gives McGregor a purer version of the fight he wants — no takedowns to worry about, just timing, distance, and power.
That’s where the intrigue lies. Not in rankings or divisional logic, but in spectacle.
McGregor remains the sport’s biggest draw, even in decline. Makhachev is the sport’s best fighter, firmly in his prime. Put those two elements together in a boxing ring and you get the kind of crossover event that keeps promoters awake at night, doing the math.
Would Dana White Actually Do It?
The UFC would never book Makhachev vs. McGregor for a welterweight title any time soon. The competitive ladder doesn’t justify it, and the roster is stacked with legitimate contenders waiting for their shot.
Boxing is a different conversation.
If Dana White ever fully leans into a Zuffa Boxing project, a fight like this sits near the top of any wish list: the sport’s best active MMA fighter against its most famous face, colliding under a different rule set.
For White, it would be a promotional dream. For Makhachev, a chance to prove his skills translate beyond the cage. For McGregor, a shot at relevance on the grandest stage without navigating the minefield of elite MMA grapplers.
How Would It Actually Look?
Strip away the noise, and the matchup itself is fascinating.
Makhachev is not primarily known as a striker, but calling him a pure grappler sells him short. His stand-up has grown sharp, efficient, and dangerous enough to support his wrestling threat. He doesn’t swing wild; he picks his moments and makes them count.
McGregor, even now, carries that one thing you can’t coach: real knockout power. His left hand remains a weapon that can change any fight in an instant. In a boxing match, without the fear of being taken down, he could fully commit to finding Makhachev’s chin.
That gives him what every underdog needs: a puncher’s chance.
Makhachev, though, believes that chance evaporates quickly after the opening round. In his mind, once McGregor’s early explosion fades, the fight becomes one-way traffic.
Fantasy or Future?
The odds say this never happens — not in MMA, not in boxing. Too many moving parts, too many contractual and promotional hurdles, too much risk on all sides.
But the fact remains: the best fighter in the sport has openly said he wants to box its biggest star, and he’s willing to do it “regardless of the purse.”
When a champion at the peak of his powers talks like that, promoters listen. Fans imagine. And somewhere between fantasy and feasibility, a simple question lingers:
If the call came and the contracts hit the table, who would really walk away from Makhachev vs. McGregor in the ring?
