The talk of MMA-boxing crossovers have reignited.
What seemed to have died down in recent years, is back in the headlines with UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria poking at boxing champion Terence Crawford. Topuria posted on social media Sunday to put Crawdford on notice ahead of his blockbuster fight against Canelo Alvarez on Saturday. “La Leyenda” says he can knock out Crawford, not only in MMA, but boxing, too.
“I won’t talk about what would happen between me and Crawford in an octagon, I’ll talk about what would happen in a ring. I put him to sleep in the first contact!,” Topuria wrote on X.
The post was made after Topuria had posted a photo of him running into Crawford with the caption: “Who wins in a fight?”
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) has dominated in the MMA space with his high-level boxing skills and devastating power. He won and defended the UFC featherweight title by scoring historic knockouts over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. He then vacated the belt in early 2025 and moved up to lightweight, where he knocked out Charles Oliveira in the first round to win the vacant UFC lightweight belt this past June. Topuria is regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA today. He’s yet to be booked for his first title defense at 155 pounds.
Crawford, who’s regarded as the pound-for-pound best in boxing, is looking to become the first undisputed champion in three different weight classes in the history of the sport. He’s currently undisputed champion at light welterweight and welterweight, and will look to do the same against Canelo at super middleweight.
