The press conference for UFC 249 on Friday had Khabib Nurmagomedov visibly irked at Tony Ferguson, even kicking Ferguson's championship belt off the stage.
Well, if the reigning lightweight champion handles his business and defeats Ferguson at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 18, Dana White thinks the potential of a Nurmagomedov-Conor McGregor rematch is truly off the charts.
"You got to see what happens with Khabib and Tony (first)," the UFC president said during the UFC 248 post-fight press conference over the weekend. "But if that thing played out, Conor vs. Khabib will be the biggest fight ever in the history of combat sports. I'm not just talking about UFC — ever (in the history of combat sports). It would beat Floyd (Mayweather Jr.) vs. Conor McGregor."
That's a lofty prediction from White, considering the August 2017 Mayweather-McGregor clash produced 4.3 million domestic pay-per-view buys for upwards of $600 million, as reported by ESPN. Perhaps White is so confident about Khabib-Conor 2 because of their deep-rooted vitriol, which will naturally drive interest and ppv sales.
Nurmagomedov scored a fourth-round submission (neck crank) to defeat McGregor in their October 2018 bout. The wild aftermath included the lightweight champion scaling the octagon and trying to attack McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis, while McGregor fought two of Nurmagomedov's cornermen in the cage.
McGregor has been more open about wanting the rematch to avenge that loss than Nurmagomedov. But as big as it's expected to be, Nurmagomedov could change his mind about running it back with his rival ... as long as he gets by Ferguson first.