Terence Crawford Says He's Serious About MMA Fight vs. Conor McGregor

WBO welterweight boxing champion Terence Crawford said he's willing to enter the UFC Octagon for an MMA clash with Conor McGregor.

"They put that money up, hell yeah I'll go over there and fight him," Crawford told TMZ Sports in an interview released Friday.

Crawford is set to defend his WBO title Saturday against Kell Brook in Las Vegas. He's successfully defended the belt three times since winning it from Jeff Horn in June 2018.

The 33-year-old Nebraska native owns a 36-0 career boxing record with 27 knockouts. He's rated as the third-best pound-for-pound boxer in the world by The Ring.

Crawford could seek a different type of challenge if the UFC makes the right financial offer.

"Conor is a big talent in the Octagon, and I'm a big talent in the boxing ring. Money talks," he told TMZ.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. was rumored as a potential MMA opponent for McGregor after the two faced off in a boxing match in August 2017, which Mayweather won convincingly. Unsurprisingly, that never came to fruition.

Crawford seems legitimately excited about the prospect, however, and the main concerns a boxer would have in that type of cross-sport encounter—grappling and wrestling—don't really apply in this instance.

"To keep it real, Conor's not a real good wrestler," he told TMZ. "He may kick the s--t out of you. You gotta worry about them kicks to the head and them elbows more than him grabbing you. It'd be other things that you'd be having to worry about other than wrestling you."

McGregor is also booked in the short term as he gets prepared for a rematch with Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in January.

It'll be interesting to see whether there's serious traction toward a clash between Crawford and McGregor sometime next spring or summer, though.