Former UFC Double Champion Conor McGregor claimed that a $200 million crossover package with Terence Crawford fell apart for one reason.
It has been revealed that Crawford did not want to step into the cage. Speaking on the Ariel Helwani Show (DAZN), ‘Notorious’ claimed that he personally pitched the boxer a two-fight deal, one MMA bout and one boxing match, only for Crawford to turn it down.
McGregor stated that the proposal involved Saudi promoter Turki Alalshikh and would have paid Crawford $200 million across the two contests. According to McGregor, the call did not go the way he hoped.
“I got on the phone, ‘What’s the craic, 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,’” McGregor said.
McGregor claimed Crawford balked at the MMA half of the arrangement.
“‘I don’t want to be kicked by you. No way,’” McGregor said the boxer told him.
The former two-division UFC champion then took a shot at Crawford’s appetite for a challenge.
“Whatever, that’s fine. I don’t know how as a man, or as a combatant, you couldn’t want to test yourself,” McGregor said.
This is not the first big-money crossover idea McGregor has floated only to see it stall. He has spent recent months chasing high-profile boxing matchups, including a proposed bout with Logan Paul that he says the UFC shut down, and a separate exhibition he claims was agreed for India.
McGregor’s Path Back To Competition
McGregor has not competed in MMA since UFC 264 on July 10, 2021, when he suffered a broken leg in his bout with Dustin Poirier. He is officially returning to the UFC to headline UFC 329 on July 11, 2026
Crawford remains an active professional boxer and a multi-division world champion, making his reported refusal of the MMA element central to McGregor’s complaint.