Amir Khan on Potential Fight with Conor McGregor: ‘It Would be Massive’

Don’t let the brutal knockout loss to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in May fool you: Amir Khan is a legitimate world championship-level boxer and he wants to fight Conor McGregor.

But not in a boxing match like all-time great Floyd Mayweather Jr. teased the world a few months back. No, “King” Khan said he’ll take on the polarizing Irish superstar inside the Octagon, in the UFC, in an MMA match.

Khan recently was interviewed by FloCombat.com and he revealed that he is willing to do what rival Mayweather refused, and that is to step foot inside the Octagon and take on “Notorious” in an MMA-rules bout.

“I'm a little different in that sense, where I would get into a cage and I would fight in MMA rules, so that's the difference between me and Mayweather,” Khan told Flocombat.com. “I would definitely give it a go. It's something to learn, as well. I'm at that age where I'm still learning, adapting and getting better. So I still have time under me as well. I'm still a young lad and got loads left in me.”

Khan, who captured a world title at junior welterweight in boxing and has taken elite foes like Alvarez, Marcos Maidana, Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson, thinks a fight with McGregor would be huge. Both are massive names in the U.K. and Khan was impressed by the numbers that UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz pulled in.

“It just shows how big this sport is getting,” Khan said. “It's going to hit crazy numbers and sometimes it surpasses boxing. These are fights people want to see. If it was boxing, you might not see a rematch. With MMA, it seems quite easy to make fights that the fans want to see. I was chasing Mayweather for two years, and the fight never happened. The fans wanted to see it, but he didn't want it. So that's the difference between MMA and boxing.”

Khan, who is a stakeholder in Super Fight League, an MMA promotion in India similar is structure to the old IFL, was adamant as to how serious he is about this fight.

“Something like that would be massive,” he concluded. “Even if I started to train MMA next year, I'd only be 30 years old. I could stop and train for a full year and become a good MMA fighter. It's in our blood to fight. I've been fighting all my life, so for me, I don't think it'd be a problem for me to learn and switch over to the sport.”