Ryan Garcia is preparing to challenge Devin Haney for the WBC super lightweight title on April 20, live worldwide on DAZN, but the 25-year-old already has his sights set on a possible non-boxing match as his next bout.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Monday, Garcia outlined his vision of taking on current UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley in the Octagon after the Haney fight.
"I'll beat his a— in MMA, guaranteed," a confident Garcia said. "I'm a natural, you don't understand. I'm a natural wrestler. I just beat my security that's a wrestler. I beat him. I'm strong and I've got crazy conditioning."
While MMA fighters taking on boxers isn't a new trend, with the likes of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou facing current WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a boxing match last year and following that up with a March 8 fight against former unified world heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua (live on DAZN), boxers crossing over into the MMA world is a much rarer event.
Garcia says he's prepared to take on that challenge.
"That's already been done," Garcia said of MMA fighters stepping into the boxing ring. "I know I'd knock him out in boxing, that's not even fair.
"What is fair is to test myself in MMA because I know if I put my mind to it and I had Nate [Diaz] helping me, even Alex Pereira, all of them, and I really locked in? [O'Malley] would not beat me. I will come with everything I have and I will destroy Sean O'Malley."
For his part, Garcia says he's reached out to Dana White to set up a bout with O'Malley, but he's awaiting a response from the UFC boss.
"I've already sent text messages to Dana," he said. "I've already got people that are connected to Dana that asked him, ' let's do this.' I'll come to UFC. Pay me a bag, I'm there."
Live on DAZN PPV: Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou on March 8. Click here for details and how to purchase.