If Tenshin Nasukawa sticks to his guns, then Conor McGregor can pretty much rule out an exhibition bout against him.
Nasukawa is a 20-year-old phenom out of Japan who is lighting up the world of kickboxing. He recently had an exhibition boxing match-up with future boxing Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather. “Money” ran through Nasukawa for the first-round TKO. Some, including former UFC and current Bellator fighter Chael Sonnen, said the fight was fixed.
Nasukawa Responds To McGregor
McGregor has gone from calling Nasukawa “Jackie Chan,” to expressing his interest in an exhibition showdown with the Japanese star. Nasukawa took to his Twitter account to offer some stipulations, one of them is extreme:
Dear Mr. McGregor. @TheNotoriousMMA
Thank you very much for remembering my name. I’m honored that you would even consider fighting me.58kg, kickboxing rules would probably get us in the ring sometime in the near future ? pic.twitter.com/BTgVVnwXLA
— 那須川 天心 (@TeppenTenshin) January 7, 2019
“Dear Mr. McGregor, thank you very much for remembering my name. I’m honored that you would even consider fighting me. 58kg (about 128 pounds), kickboxing rules would probably get us in the ring sometime in the near future.”
There is pretty much no chance that Nasukawa’s weight request will be met. McGregor used to look drained cutting down to 145 pounds and has competed as a welterweight. Expecting the “Notorious” one to make the trip down to 128 pounds is a bit insane.
The kickboxing stipulation might not be such a barrier, although McGregor has said he no longer wants to be limited in combat following his Aug. 2017 boxing match with Mayweather. There’s also the issue of McGregor’s UFC contract and whether or not his leverage is enough to allow him to venture off for an exhibition.
Any chance the UFC allows Conor McGregor to compete outside the promotion for an exhibition bout?
