Islam Makhachev vs. Conor McGregor: A Boxing Showdown?

Islam Makhachev has cleaned out a division and climbed to the top of the pound‑for‑pound lists. Now he’s looking sideways, not down — and his eyes have landed on Conor McGregor, not in the cage, but under boxing rules.

The UFC welterweight champion, speaking to Ushatayka, didn’t bother hiding how much the idea excites him. McGregor hasn’t won consistently for years and is nowhere near a UFC welterweight title shot, yet his name still bends the sport. That’s the appeal. Champion vs. superstar. The machine vs. the myth.

And Makhachev believes it wouldn’t be close.

He sees danger, but only in a small window.

“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 this is not just a money fantasy. In his mind, this is a beating he’s willing to deliver at any price.

On paper, it’s a strange crossroads. In MMA, Makhachev’s suffocating grappling and control would make him an overwhelming favorite. McGregor would have to deal with the threat of takedowns, the clinch, the fence, and a champion who thrives in all of those spaces.

Strip all that away, though, and the picture changes.

In a ring, with big gloves and no level changes to worry about, McGregor’s chances improve. He can sit down on his left hand, stalk, and look for that single clean shot that has ended so many nights. No wrestling scrambles. No cage pressure. Just timing, distance, and power.

That’s the version of the fight that intrigues Makhachev.

He isn’t billed as a pure striker, but calling him a one‑dimensional wrestler is lazy. His stand‑up has grown sharp and efficient, good enough to trade with elite lightweights and now welterweights. He trusts it. He trusts it enough to imagine walking McGregor down in a boxing ring and “wiping the floor” with him, as he suggested.

The question, of course, is whether anyone in power wants to roll those dice.

Would Dana White actually book it? Under the old Zuffa Boxing banner or any new vehicle the UFC might use, the matchup sells itself: the sport’s current best against its biggest draw. One man representing the present, the other still clinging to the aura of his peak.

From a pure UFC standpoint, it makes little competitive sense. Makhachev vs. McGregor inside the Octagon is a mismatch on paper. But in boxing, the risk‑reward calculus shifts. McGregor’s punching power gives him a genuine puncher’s chance, and the intrigue lies in that narrow, explosive possibility.

Most likely, it never happens. Too many contracts, too many egos, too many moving parts.

Yet the fact that Makhachev is openly calling for it — not as a circus, not as a cash‑grab, but as a fight he’s confident he dominates — adds a new layer to both men’s futures. The champion wants to test himself in another arena. The star, if he listens, would have to decide whether he’s ready to chase one more impossible night under a different set of lights.