{"id":134,"date":"2026-07-02T06:25:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T06:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/?p=134"},"modified":"2026-07-02T06:25:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T06:25:54","slug":"terence-crawford-mma-boxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/2026\/07\/02\/terence-crawford-mma-boxing\/","title":{"rendered":"Terence Crawford Refutes Conor McGregor\u2019s Claims of $200 Million MMA-Boxing Crossover Offer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The age-old debate of boxer vs. MMA fighter has persisted ever since James Toney\u2019s ill-fated UFC showdown with Randy Couture. Over the years, that rivalry has only grown, from Conor McGregor stepping into the boxing ring against Floyd Mayweather to Francis Ngannou&#8217;s blockbuster bouts with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. More recently, the cross-sport rivalry was reignited <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/2026\/06\/25\/ilia-topurias-trainer-offers-encouraging-health-update-hints-at-december-2026-ufc-comeback\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">when former UFC 155lbs champion<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Ilia Topuria exchanged words with boxing superstar Terence Crawford.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, Crawford has made a claim that is sure to surprise many fans. The undefeated boxing legend denied reports that he was offered $200 million to face Conor McGregor in a two-fight deal featuring one boxing match and one MMA fight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Back in 2024, both Crawford and McGregor revealed that Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia&#8217;s General Entertainment Authority, had discussed a two-fight agreement between them: one under boxing rules and the other in MMA. McGregor even claimed the pair would have earned millions from the blockbuster crossover.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Conor McGregor reveals there were discussions for a two-fight deal with Terence Crawford worth $200 million involving Turki Alalshikh, but says Crawford ultimately declined:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I got on the phone, &#8216;What&#8217;s the craic, Terence? It&#8217;s the Mac Daddy. I got [Turki] here. We&#8217;ve got a big\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NpkkCblSG3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/NpkkCblSG3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/arielhelwani\/status\/2066971317262598384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/2026\/07\/01\/daniel-cormier-ufc-226\/#google_vignette\" target=\"_self\">Daniel Cormier Details How WWE Prevented His Dream UFC Bout With Brock Lesnar<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the time, Crawford told Bernie Tha Boxer that he had no interest in stepping inside the Octagon with McGregor, citing the risks of being kicked and elbowed. McGregor recently echoed that story ahead of his UFC 329 return during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, claiming Crawford had rejected the idea of fighting him in MMA first before meeting in a boxing match.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McGregor also revealed that a massive financial offer of exactly $200 million had been on the table for the proposed superfight. The matchup would have been particularly intriguing given Crawford&#8217;s wrestling background, but McGregor maintained that the boxing champion declined because he didn&#8217;t want to deal with the striking arsenal unique to MMA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, during his appearance on the latest episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, Crawford pushed back on those claims, insisting that no such $200 million offer ever existed. The American, however, went on to explain how the story may have been misunderstood.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During his <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aIdi5DIS5EU\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">conversation with Ariel Helwani<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Crawford dismissed McGregor&#8217;s version of events, saying, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat was a lie. It was cap. There was never a $200 million offer, they asked me what I\u2019d do, and I told them, \u2018You ain\u2019t about to be kicking on me, Conor.\u2019 We were on FaceTime, and I did tell him that.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He added, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBut they didn\u2019t say, \u2018Hey, you got $200 million. You fight him in boxing and MMA.\u2019 That was never the case. If it was said to me, I could say there was an offer, but if nothing is privy to me, I can\u2019t say what is what. He\u2019s making up numbers, in my head.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite denying the fight offer, Crawford admitted he would have seriously considered accepting it had such a financial deal actually been presented to him. He said, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI would have done it\u2026 Why wouldn\u2019t I? I don\u2019t need to do it [today after retiring]. Back then, it would have been a good deal. Right now, where I\u2019m sitting, I don\u2019t need to do it. That\u2019s the thing; I\u2019m in a different space in my life right now, where I don\u2019t have to take those fights.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The undefeated boxing great also expressed confidence in his chances against McGregor under MMA rules, pointing to the Irishman&#8217;s wrestling as an area he believed he could handle. Crawford claimed, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBack then, I probably would have taken it. Conor\u2019s not the best wrestler. I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m the best wrestler either, but I know standing up it\u2019s only going to take one good shot, and I\u2019m going to put him to sleep. He\u2019s going to try to kick me, and takedowns, we\u2019re just going to do what we do.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Terence Crawford says he would\u2019ve fought Conor McGregor if they actually offered $200M \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s cap. He\u2019s making up numbers. I would\u2019ve did it. Now, I don\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n<p>Conor\u2019s not the best wrestler. I know it only takes one shot and I\u2019d put him to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>(via <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/arielhelwani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@arielhelwani<\/a>) <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1DxOGKgemZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/1DxOGKgemZ<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ljqnbzM1A2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ljqnbzM1A2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HappyPunch\/status\/2072409599018254829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 1, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the unversed, Crawford retired with a perfect 42-0 professional record after his historic <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=D33ID3DSNEA\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">victory over Canelo Alvarez<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in September 2025. McGregor, meanwhile, has not competed since suffering a gruesome leg break against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. The former two-division UFC champion is set to return against Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 on July 11 in Las Vegas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, McGregor is no stranger to crossover spectacles. In 2017, he stepped into the boxing <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HS4yVd2a98E\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ring to face Floyd Mayweather<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, ultimately losing via 10th-round TKO. Despite the defeat, the blockbuster event reportedly earned him more than $100 million. The Las Vegas showdown also generated a live gate of $55.5 million and sold 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, making it the second-highest-grossing and second-best-selling fight in boxing history.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The age-old debate of boxer vs. MMA fighter has persisted ever since James Toney\u2019s ill-fated UFC showdown with Randy Couture. Over the years, that rivalry has only grown, from Conor McGregor stepping into the boxing ring against Floyd Mayweather to Francis Ngannou&#8217;s blockbuster bouts with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. More recently, the cross-sport rivalry [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5886,"featured_media":137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[18,72],"class_list":["post-134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ufc","tag-conor-mcgregor","tag-terence-crawford"],"modified_by":"Kshitiz Kumar Singh","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions\/136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}