Tenshin tells McGregor ‘watch your diet and wait for me’

The world-class kickboxer took a brutal TKO against Floyd Mayweather in their exhibition bout at RIZIN 14, but he’s already looking for the next crossover superfight opportunity.

Is there a chance for yet another major crossover fight in the combat sports world? Conor McGregor got his opportunity to box with Floyd Mayweather Jr. back in 2017. A little more than a year later, kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa followed suit with what was intended to be a 3-round exhibition boxing match, at RIZIN 14, against the recently retired multiple-time world champion.

Tenshin ended up on the canvas three times in the opening round against Mayweather, before his corner threw in the towel to have the fight stopped. Hardly the highlight RIZIN or Tenshin were looking for out of the fight. But, even in defeat, the 20-year-old appears to have gotten a significant boost in global recognition. And it just so happens that one of the people taking notice is none other than the ‘Notorious’ UFC superstar.

McGregor and ‘TEPPEN’ exchanged a few barbs over social media before the NYE exhibition bout, but now that the Rise Kickboxing champion’s fight with Mayweather is over, McGregor has taken a stronger interest in setting up his own bout with the young star from Japan.

“I wish to go to Tokyo to face Tenshin Nasukawa in a Mixed Martial Arts exhibition bout in Japan,” the former two-division UFC champion wrote on Twitter. “Before this summer. Please arrange this, this instant.
Yours sincerely
The champ champ.”

While convincing the UFC to let McGregor fight under the RIZIN banner may be a near impossible task, the call-out has – seemingly, at least – been eagerly received by Tenshin. He fired back a response on Twitter, that a 58kg (127 lb) kickboxing bout would be most likely to get them both in the ring on the Irishman’s desired timeline.

Considering that McGregor has fought as high as 170 lbs in the not too distant past and has never fought below 145 lbs, this ‘superfight’ may have hit a major technical snag right off the bat.

And even supposing that the UFC had any interest in easing McGregor’s contract for another event outside the Octagon, it’s hard to imagine that the fighter who told reporters he was stepping into the ring against Mayweather at around 170 lbs – for their contracted 154 lb fight – could get anywhere below 145 without losing a leg at least. On the other hand, having seen the obvious power differential on display between Tenshin and Mayweather, maybe it’s better for all involved if this fight is left in the realms of fantasy.