Bud confirmed he was in talks with Turki Alalshikh and Conor McGregor for a two fight series where they’d compete in boxing and MMA.
Terence “Bud” Crawford has confirmed Conor McGregor’s recent claims that the two of them were in talks to fight each other in both boxing and MMA.
According to Crawford, Saudi boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh was the one trying to put the deal together, but the whole thing fell apart because Crawford was extremely aware of how badly he’d get beaten up in MMA.
“I told Conor to himself, I said, ‘Hell naw!’” Bud said on a recent episode of Bernie Tha Boxer. “They offered me the fight, me and Conor got on the phone and started politicking to try and figure something out. I just told him, ‘Man, I’m not getting in no f—ing octagon with you so you can be kicking me and elbowing me and s—.’”
“And so he gets to laughing and s—. He’s like, ‘Man, I respect that because you respect my sport just like I respect your sport. You understand that if you get in the octagon with me, you’re going to be at a disadvantage. Just like if I get in the boxing ring with you, I’m going to be at a disadvantage.’”
Even the prospect of making “hundreds of millions” wasn’t enough to change Crawford’s mind, because Crawford is one of the best boxers in the world and already making that big boy money without getting whupped in the cage by McGregor. And boxing fans seem less willing to keep you in the elite circle where that money is made if you suffer a devastating loss.
“He was like, ‘But we’ll make a sh*t ton of money!’” Crawford said with a laugh. “I said, ‘Yeah, sometimes it ain’t about the money.’ I can make money, but you ain’t about to be kicking me, dude. Them kicks and elbows, that s— ain’t no joke. We would have made a s— ton of money.”
Now we have to wonder: what else might Turki Alalshikh and Conor McGregor be trying to cook up, and was UFC in the loop regarding Crawford talks? The UFC event coming up in Saudi Arabia for February 2025 has suddenly gotten a whole lot more interesting to us.