Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov spent part of a press conference for a fight which for years has struggled to materialize, entertaining a question regarding a fight that nobody believes will ever take place.

The undefeated mixed marital arts superstar was in Las Vegas to promote his upcoming bout versus Tony ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson, which headlines a UFC 249 event on April 18 live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The timing of Friday’s press conference meant having to address a hot-button topic, as his name has been mentioned alongside boxing all-time great Floyd Mayweather Jr., who has hinted at a special tour-type of comeback in 2020.

Such a ring tour, though, will only include the kind of events that will push his net worth beyond the billion-dollar mark. The unbeaten former five-division champ and longtime pound-for-pound king acknowledged talks with UFC President Dana White, regarding the possibility of a rematch with Ireland’s Conor McGregor along with a first fight with Nurmagomedov (28-0 overall MMA record, including 12-0 in UFC).

“We [him and White] talked about the Conor McGregor fight, we talked about the Khabib fight,” Mayweather (50-0, 27KOs) admitted during a recent fan event while on tour in the United Kingdom. “For myself, the number is $600 million [to face them]. If I'm going to go out there and risk it, it'd have to be worth it. In the boxing world as of right now, it doesn't make sense for me to fight any ordinary fighter.

“I'm a businessman. The Conor McGregor fight made sense. If it makes money, it makes sense.”

From a business standpoint, Mayweather’s fight with McGregor made enough sense to consider a part two.

The August 2017 clash served as the final fight of Mayweather’s legendary career, scoring a 10th round stoppage over the UFC superstar and boxing novice. Mayweather ended a two-year “retirement” for the one-night only affair, having since brushed off several rumors of a comeback including a second fight with Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39KOs).

Mayweather’s bouts with Pacquiao and McGregor serve as best two selling events in combat sports history, each generating well north of four million Pay-Per-View buys. Nurmagomedov has created his own history in that regard, with his October 2018 submission win over McGregor generating a UFC PPV record 2.4 million PPV buys, a massive enough event to where a rematch has dominated conversation, further heightened by McGregor’s return to the octagon this past January.

For now, the focus is on silencing Ferguson—at least in the cage, as the outspoken Mexican-American from Oxnard, California is quite the personality behind the mic. Assuming all goes well, Nurmagomedov has what he believes is a more realistic path to a fight with Mayweather.

“Who gonna give him $600 million? Not me. I don't think Dana gonna give him $600 milllon,” Nurmagomedov noted during Friday’s entertaining presser. “If you want to make [the] fight, we can make [the] fight like this: 11 rounds… box, 1 round MMA. If you make deal, we can fight.”

The sidebar didn’t sit well with the opponent already on his schedule.

“You don't have the conditioning for 11 rounds,” Ferguson shot back, insisting he will exhaust and beat Nurmagomedov over the course of their five-round title fight.

“Hey shut up, I don't talk with you,” Nurmagomedov shot back, before explaining what he believes is a clear path to such a hybrid event. “We already have option. We have $100 million offer to fight him at middleweight. We have offer.

“I think Mayweather, he's a very big name. He's a very big name. Right now, I have big name too. We can fight. But we need like, 11 round box, 1 round MMA. Let's go, I'm ready.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox