Conor McGregor is all set to make his return to MMA after five years on July 11, facing familiar foe Max Holloway in a long-anticipated rematch at UFC 329, almost 13 years after their first encounter. However, it appears the Irishman was planning a comeback much earlier for a colossal crossover, i.e., an MMA-boxing showdown with the three-division undisputed champion Terence Crawford before his latest one.

In a surprising revelation, McGregor told Ariel Helwani in a recent appearance that he had held talks with Saudi boxing figurehead His Excellency Turki Alalshikh for a blockbuster two-fight matchup, first under MMA rules and then in boxing with the now-retired boxing champ. But Crawford ended up ultimately rejecting the deal that was supposedly worth a whopping $200 million.

“I like Terence. I think he’s a great boxer,” McGregor said. “I’m on the call. Turki has me in his ring, where I’m in this laden suite with Turki and a big gang of these people, right? Lovely fellas. Stressed, unusual, they’re their own group… We have a nice rapport, all me and these guys, yeah?  But anyway, they’re presenting belt opportunities. And then the Terence Crawford one came up, a two-fight deal. They were saying maybe boxing versus this.

“’Lads, I’ve done this. I’ve done the boxing. They have to come to me now. I’ll do the boxing after.’ So we just worked out a two-fight deal. Wow! Mixed martial arts first with Terence, and boxing after. I said, ‘He’s not going to accept it.’ I hope he accepts it. He can f—ing wrestle. Maybe we’ll have to wait for his son to do it. Maybe his son will have the f—ing courage to do it. Whatever. Gets on the phone. ‘What’s the crack, Terence? It’s the Mac Daddy. I’ve got the big fella here. We’ve got a big deal for you. It’s hundreds of millions. Two hundred million, to be exact. Mixed martial arts against me, and a boxing one against you.’  

Well, Conor McGregor didn’t specify what “belt opportunities” Alalshikh had presented to him while discussing the Terence Crawford matchup. But the former UFC champion rightfully pointed out that HE Turki Alalshikh had indeed proposed the anticipated crossover hybrid matchup back in the fall of 2024. McGregor was still under a two-fight deal with the UFC. Still, the fact that the Irishman fought Floyd Mayweather while officially tied to a UFC contract in 2017 probably kept talks of a crossover matchup with Crawford alive. Even so, the former undisputed super middleweight champion remained largely uninterested in the matchup. 

In an interview with Bernie Tha Boxer, Crawford confirmed the same regarding a potential crossover fight with McGregor. However, ‘Bud’ ultimately turned down the idea of an MMA bout, knowing that the Irishman would be “kicking and elbowing him.” Still, McGregor apparently pushed for the matchup to the best of his negotiating abilities. But it was met with rejection from the Omaha native.

“’I don’t want to be kicked by you,’” McGregor recalled in the same interview. “’No way.’ I said, ‘My man, we can box a few months later. What’s the crack? Come on. You’re mad. You can wrestle.’ And he just didn’t want to know. So whatever. That’s fine. I think that’s his own thing. I don’t know how you couldn’t.

“I don’t know how, as a man or as a combatant, you couldn’t want to test yourself. I’m yearning to get into bare-knuckle to test myself. You know what I mean? I want to test myself as a fighter. This bubble that a lot of these people are in, this little protected bubble, and then they think that is that.” 

Here, McGregor pressed on the fact that he thought Terence Crawford’s amateur wrestling background would propel him to actually accept the proposed bouts. In fact, the 38-year-old seemed tempted by the fight at one point after initially being skeptical and even posted, “Conor, getting back on the mat!” on social media. Despite this, one other major constraint may have prevented the fight from materializing.

Reacting to a potential Conor McGregor vs. Terence Crawford bout, Dana White rejected the possibility of the fight with a stark “no” on the ‘Outta Pocket with RGIII’ podcast back in 2024. McGregor’s UFC contract, which still had two fights remaining on it, likely played a significant role in the Crawford fight never seeing the light of day, as the promotion likely wanted him to compete under its banner first instead of pursuing another crossover bout. 

Regardless, Conor McGregor making his comeback under Dana White’s banner this year is a signal that the talks of fighting Terence Crawford have fallen through midway. Yet, that didn’t stop ‘The Notorious’ from going back and forth with the former boxing champion after the recent UFC Freedom 250 event.

Conor McGregor defends Ilia Topuria from Terence Crawford’s jab after Justin Gaethje loss

Just like McGregor, the former UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria never felt gun-shy about picking fights with athletes outside his realm. That happened when ‘El Matador’ said he would knock out Terence Crawford in a boxing match back when he was an undefeated phenom. For that reason, ‘Bud’ reminded Topuria of his claim after he lost to Justin Gaethje this Sunday in the UFC Freedom 250 main event.

“This the guy that said he would knock me out and whoop me and Shakur at the same time?” Crawford remarked on X after the fight.

However, Conor McGregor unexpectedly came to Ilia Topuria’s defense, stating that boxers would never compete in MMA. He also called it “pitiful” that Crawford wouldn’t enter the Octagon even though he knows how to wrestle.

“What the f–k are you saying?” McGregor responded on X. “You can wrestle yet you are afraid of an MMA fight. That to me is pitiful. The kid was beaten in an MMA fight, of which you don’t have the courage for. What the f–k was with all these little boxers at this show yet no MMA fighters?”

As Conor McGregor has once again stirred the pot with Terence Crawford, the cornerstone for a future bout has been laid. However, the likelihood of this fight materializing once again appears slim, considering the UFC would likely have little interest in entertaining such a matchup while the Irishman remains under their contract. And not to mention, Terence Crawford is already retired.