Conor McGregor says the $200 million two-fight deal he once floated for Terence Crawford was real money, and that Saudi entertainment chairman Turki Alalshikh was on the phone ready to fund it.
McGregor detailed the failed negotiation during an in-studio appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on Tuesday, recounting the call he placed to Crawford with Alalshikh listening in.
The proposal was the same crossover concept the two have batted around since 2024: one fight under MMA rules, one under boxing rules, split across two events.
I got on the phone, ‘What’s the crack, Terence? It’s the Mac Daddy. I got [Turki] here. We’ve got a big deal for you. It’s hundreds of millions, $200 million to be exact. Mixed martial arts against me and a boxing one against you.'
By McGregor’s account, Crawford was not interested in the half of the deal that took place inside the Octagon.
He said, ‘I don’t want to be kicked by you. No way.’ Whatever, that’s fine. I don’t know how as a man, or as a combatant, you couldn’t want to test yourself.
Crawford has told the same story before, saying he refused to climb into a cage and absorb kicks and elbows from McGregor. The boxer walked away from the offer rather than learn a second sport on the fly.
Why McGregor Is Defending Topuria
The timing is not random. Crawford spent the weekend mocking Ilia Topuria after his corner-stoppage loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250, and McGregor jumped in to defend his fellow UFC fighter.
And then he said that about [Topuria]. I didn’t like it, and I came in as the daddy of the game and let it be known, and that’s it.
That defense kicked off a heated social media exchange between the two earlier on Tuesday, with McGregor questioning why a former amateur wrestler like Crawford would not risk an MMA bout. The two traded shots over which sport is harder before the back-and-forth fizzled out. You can read the full McGregor and Crawford social media exchange here.
Crawford has little reason to revisit the idea now. He moved up two divisions to outpoint Saul “Canelo” Alvarez last September and became the first man in the four-belt era to hold undisputed status in three weight classes, then announced his retirement from boxing months later.
McGregor, meanwhile, has his own return to focus on. He fights Max Holloway in the UFC 329 main event in Las Vegas on July 11, his first bout since the 2021 leg break against Dustin Poirier.