Islam Makhachev Eyes Boxing Match with Conor McGregor
Islam Makhachev has cleaned out his own lane. Now he’s eyeing someone else’s.
The UFC welterweight champion and current No. 1 pound‑for‑pound fighter has admitted he’s genuinely intrigued by the idea of boxing Conor McGregor — not in a cage, not for a belt, but under straight boxing rules.
Speaking to Ushatayka, Makhachev didn’t bother dressing it up as a money grab or a vanity project. He framed it as a challenge he relishes, and one he believes would be brutally one‑sided after the early going.
“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, making it clear the paycheck is secondary to the spectacle.
On paper, it’s a bizarre matchup. McGregor, still the sport’s biggest star, is coming off multiple losses and is nowhere near a welterweight title shot. In MMA terms, Makhachev vs. McGregor doesn’t make sense right now. The champion is at his peak, the Irishman is still trying to claw his way back to relevance.
Boxing changes the equation.
Strip away the takedowns, the clinch work, the suffocating grappling that makes Makhachev such a nightmare at lightweight and welterweight, and you’re left with a very different kind of fight. McGregor doesn’t have to worry about being dragged to the mat or controlled against the fence. He can do what he’s always wanted to do: plant his feet and sling that left hand at a willing target.
That’s where the intrigue lives for UFC president Dana White. If there were ever a Zuffa Boxing showcase that could actually move the needle, it’s this: the best mixed martial artist in the world against the sport’s most bankable name, colliding in a ring instead of an Octagon.
The matchup would flip the usual script. In MMA, almost no one would pick McGregor over Makhachev. The Dagestani’s elite grappling and control would smother the Irishman’s offense and likely break his resistance over five rounds. In a boxing ring, McGregor’s odds don’t suddenly skyrocket, but they don’t look hopeless either. His pure punching power gives him a legitimate puncher’s chance, especially early, when his timing and explosiveness are at their sharpest.
Makhachev, though, is no novice on the feet. While he built his reputation on wrestling and suffocating top control, his striking has evolved into a sharp, efficient weapon. He doesn’t waste motion, doesn’t throw for the cameras, and he carries enough pop and craft to hold his own in extended exchanges. Over longer rounds, with his conditioning and composure, he would expect to walk McGregor down and systematically strip away that early danger.
The real question sits outside the ring: would White actually book it?
There’s no sporting logic to it in terms of rankings or divisions. It’s not a title defense, not a contender fight, not even a grudge born from recent events. It’s a spectacle, a collision of eras and brands. That alone might be enough. White has never shied away from a crossover if the story is big enough and the numbers are right.
For now, it lives in the realm of fantasy matchmaking. The odds say we never see Islam Makhachev and Conor McGregor share a ring or a cage. Their careers are on different tracks, moving at different speeds.
But the champion has spoken. He’d do it, and he’d do it for any purse.
When the sport’s most dominant fighter starts calling out its biggest star in another discipline, you’re left with one lingering thought: how long can the UFC resist turning that kind of chaos into reality?
