Islam Makhachev Eyes Crossover Boxing Match with Conor McGregor
Islam Makhachev already rules the UFC cage. Now he’s looking at the ropes.
The reigning UFC welterweight champion and current No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter has admitted he’s genuinely intrigued by a crossover boxing match with Conor McGregor – and not because of the payday.
Speaking to Ushatayka, Makhachev didn’t bother dressing it up.
“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),” he said.
That’s the UFC’s most dominant active champion talking about the sport’s biggest star like a man eyeing a routine job, not a blockbuster spectacle.
A Fight That Makes No Sense – Except It Does
Inside the UFC structure, Makhachev vs McGregor at welterweight is a non-starter. McGregor is coming off multiple losses and nowhere near a title shot. On sporting merit, the matchup doesn’t stack up.
Boxing changes everything.
No takedowns. No clinch wrestling. No smothering top control. Just McGregor’s left hand, Makhachev’s composure, and 10 or 12 rounds to settle an ego war.
From a promotional standpoint, the appeal is obvious. UFC president Dana White would be selling a collision between the best MMA fighter on the planet and the sport’s most marketable name. In a Zuffa Boxing setting, it almost writes its own poster.
Power vs Control
In MMA, this fantasy matchup barely qualifies as a debate. Makhachev’s elite grappling would make him an overwhelming favorite. McGregor would be fighting off takedowns from the opening second and drowning under pressure.
Boxing strips all that away.
McGregor, who once went ten rounds with Floyd Mayweather under Queensberry rules, wouldn’t have to worry about the level change. He could load up, plant his feet, and hunt for Makhachev’s chin with the kind of power that has ended nights in an instant.
Makhachev, though, is not just a wrestler with gloves on. He’s developed into an excellent striker in MMA, sharp enough on the feet to set up his grappling and win extended stand-up exchanges. He’s not known first for his striking, but he’s far from a novice, and he clearly believes his skill set would more than hold up with big gloves and boxing rules.
McGregor would carry the “puncher’s chance” label, but against a champion who prides himself on discipline, defense, and conditioning, that window might be brutally small.
Will Dana White Bite?
That’s the million-dollar – or more likely, hundred-million-dollar – question.
On pure competition logic, the matchup is hard to justify. On star power, it’s almost irresistible. White has already shown a willingness to let his biggest names cross into boxing when the event is big enough and the numbers make sense.
Makhachev has now publicly signaled he doesn’t need a record-breaking purse to sign. McGregor, whose brand thrives on spectacle and high-risk theater, has never been shy about unconventional fights.
The odds say we never see Islam Makhachev and Conor McGregor touch gloves in a boxing ring or an Octagon. But the champion’s open invitation adds one more tantalizing “what if” to a sport that lives off them.
And if that call ever gets answered, it won’t just be another crossover circus. It will be the most dominant technician of this era walking straight into the world of its loudest showman, with nothing but fists to decide who was right all along.
