KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV revealed negotiations to fight Floyd Mayweather collapsed as he did not want to “break” his UFC contract.
Mayweather retired from professional boxing in 2017 after easily beating Nurmagomedov’s rival Conor McGregor.
Shortly after UFC champion Khabib defeated McGregor in 2018, he called out 50-0 unbeaten boxer Mayweather.
Nurmagomedov was told he would be breaching the terms of his UFC deal if he was to box the American – despite loopholes being found in the terms.
But the Russian grappler wanted to remain faithful to his employers.
Nurmagomedov said: “They told me: ‘Yes, you’ll be scolded, fined. But we’ll take care of all the fines.’
“I told them that, for me, a contract is more important than money and we can’t have an agreement with UFC if we’re willing to break it.
“I’m not aware of the UFC’s own position on the Mayweather fight.”
The UFC forbids their stars from competing in other combat sports, with McGregor needing an exemption to make his boxing debut three years ago.
Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz last year revealed Mayweather was in line to face his client in Saudi Arabia this January.
But UFC boss Dana White called off the pay-per-view spectacle.
Mayweather last November announced he was coming out of retirement in 2020 to work with White again.
The UFC promoter recently revealed the former box office king wants to make a comeback.
White told Yahoo Sports: “Floyd wants to fight.
“He wants to fight. We’re going to probably … listen, I’m dealing with all the (expletive) that’s going on with 2020 right now.
“Floyd and I want to work together. We want to do something. We’re going to do something.”
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