Floyd Mayweather Would Only Fight Khabib in Boxing: 'My Way, My Rules'

Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants to make one thing clear: He won't be fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov in the Octagon. 

"They said it has to happen in the Octagon. And I said, 'Just tell me where Khabib has made nine figures before in the Octagon!,'" Mayweather told TMZ Sports. "If he hasn't made nine figures, he's not the A-side. So, I'm the A-side."

Mayweather didn't stop there. 

"It's my way, my rules. I'm Floyd 'Money' Mayweather!"

Nurmagomedov first called out Mayweather following his successful lightweight title defense against Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in October. 

"Hey, let's go, Floyd. We have to fight now," Khabib said in an Instagram video (h/t MMAJunkie.com's Simon Samano). "50-0 vs. 27-0. Two guys never lose. Let's go. Why not? Because in the jungle only one king. Only one king. Of course, I am the king because he cannot drop McGregor, but I drop him easily."

However, it's long seemed unlikely that a fight would materialize. Not only is Floyd keen on a boxing match, but UFC president Dana White told ESPN's Get Up! that Khabib would want the bout to take place in a mixed martial arts setting. 

"I don't think it's going to happen," he said, per ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto. "I don't think the fight would happen in the UFC, but they didn't say no."

In the meantime, Mayweather has seemingly set his sights on keeping a New Year's Eve fight with 20-year-old kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa alive. 

On Thursday, Mayweather told TMZ the sides are "gonna make it happen" and suggested it would be a "little boxing exhibition" fight rather than an official bout. He previously posted a long message on Instagram saying he "never agreed to an official bout" despite the two sides announcing a showdown at a press conference in Japan.