Conor McGregor has claimed that Terence Crawford rejected a staggering £200million two-fight deal because he did not want to be kicked in the face. McGregor made the revelation during an appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show, where he discussed his upcoming UFC comeback and took aim at the boxing champion.
McGregor's UFC Return
McGregor is set to make his UFC return against Max Holloway on July 11, five years after his last fight, a defeat by Dustin Poirier in which he broke his leg in the first round. The Irishman has also boxed professionally, being stopped by Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
Crawford's Criticism of Topuria
McGregor's comments came after Crawford criticised Ilia Topuria following his defeat by Justin Gaethje at the White House last weekend. McGregor said: "He shouldn't have kicked a man when he was down, especially when you're ringside. If you're ringside and you're afforded that opportunity, I just found it a bit distasteful."
The Two-Fight Offer
McGregor detailed the negotiations that took place two years ago, saying: "Turki [Alalshikh] has me at his Ring event. I'm in this suite with Turki and every gang of these people. They're presenting bout opportunities, and then the Terence Crawford offer came up. Two-fight deal. They were saying maybe boxer versus — listen, lads, 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 — mixed martial arts first with Terence and boxing after. I said, 'He's not going to accept it.'"
Crawford's Rejection
When asked why Crawford rejected the deal, McGregor claimed Crawford said: "I don't want to be kicked by you, no way." McGregor added: "I says, 'My man, we can box the f***ing few months later. What's the craic, come on? You're mad, you can wrestle.' And he just didn't want to."
McGregor expressed his disbelief at Crawford's decision, stating: "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 the bare-knuckle [boxing] to test myself. As a fighter, I want to test myself."
McGregor's Critique of Boxers
McGregor also took a swipe at boxers in general, saying: "This bubble that a lot of these people are in, this little protected bubble, I'd slap the head off every single one of them easily. No matter the weight, heavyweight and all. I'd slap them around."
He concluded by reiterating his displeasure with Crawford's comments about Topuria, noting that the fight was a mixed martial arts bout, not a boxing match. McGregor said: "It wasn't a boxing bout. Cupped the back of the head, cracked 'em with a few elbows, a few uppercuts, kicks low, kicks high. It was a mixed martial arts bout that knocked [Topuria] out that beat him bad. The fact that the guy was ringside, I didn't like it. And I came in as the daddy of the game and let it be known. That's it."
