UFC title contender Jimi Manuwa is confident that a proposed cross-codes all British showdown against David Haye is much more than a pipe-dream.

Manuwa faces the dangerous Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 214, in Los Angeles, this weekend, with the winner in line to face Daniel Cormier or Jon Jones for the light heavyweight belt.

But while the Londoner's main focus is on becoming a UFC title holder, he has taken a leaf out of Conor McGregor's book by spending the past two months holding talks with ex-world champion Haye over a boxing bout.

Haye is currently recovering from ankle surgery after snapping his Achilles during his encounter against Tony Bellew last March, but once he returns to fitness at the end of 2017, Manuwa believes the bout will take place and he will enter a professional boxing ring for the first time.

'I'm looking forward to that and I'm confident that the fight would happen,' said Manuwa.

'It would be a couple of steps down from [Mayweather-McGregor] but it would be massive. Another cross-codes MMA, boxing fight.

'We've discussed when Haye is ready and when he gets his injury sorted. Then we'll fight. Until then, I'll keep fighting in UFC.

'There is definitely something to it. We've talked and like the look of it, and we'll try to work it out.'

A chance of fighting for the UFC belt would throw a spanner in the works of any encounter against Haye though. Should Manuwa prevail against Oezdemir, then he is widely expected to go head-to-head with Cormier or Jones, who meet in their much-anticipated rematch on Saturday night.

It's no coincidence that Manuwa is on the same card as Cormier and Jones.

He has been UFC president Dana White's fall-back option to substitute for one of the pair, if their proposed rematch falls through for a fifth time.

However, it is not a certainty that Manuwa would face a title shot.

The 37-year-old's good friend and training partner Alexander Gustafsson is a possible next opponent for a victorious Jones after the pair played their part in an absorbing contest at UFC 192.

Manuwa said: 'In the UFC, nothing is guaranteed. Anything can happen when it comes to getting a title shot.

'I was supposed to get a title shot after the last fight, but then Jon Jones came back and here we are now. It's down to more than one person.'