Conor McGregor and Terence Crawford offered 2-fight deal
Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor and boxing sensation and champion Terence Crawford appear to have been offered a two-fight deal that would have seen the stars compete against each other in MMA and boxing.
In separate interviews, Crawford and McGregor revealed that Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, had offered them a two-fight agreement, with one in boxing and the other in MMA.
“[I told Crawford] They are asking for a fight,” McGregor said. “It’s going to be hundreds of millions on the line. What’s up? He said, ‘I don’t want to take a kick.’ You got to respect that.”
While McGregor has had crossover experience in boxing, Crawford has never competed in MMA.
“They offered me the fight,” the four-division champion said in an interview with Bernie Tha Boxer. “Me and Conor got on the phone and started politicking to try and figure something out. Man, I’m not getting in no f—ing Octagon with you so you can be kicking and elbowing me!”
The undefeated Crawford, 37, is arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world and is one of three boxers to hold all four major world titles simultaneously in two different weight classes.
“He was like, ‘I respect that,'” Crawford said of McGregor’s response to him rejecting the fight. “‘You respect my sport just like I respect your sport. You understand that if you got in the Octagon with me, I would be at a disadvantage. Just like if I got in a boxing ring with you, I’d be at a disadvantage.'”
McGregor was to return to the UFC earlier this year after sitting on the sidelines following a leg injury in a loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021. The comeback fight against Michael Chandler did not come to fruition yet the Irish MMA star is hopeful for a return in 2025.
