UFC CEO Dana White has kept the door firmly shut on his fighters facing boxers ever since Conor McGregor’s lucrative crossover.

McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a 2017 boxing match billed as ‘The Money Fight’, ‘Boxing vs. MMA: Champion of Champions’, and ‘The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History’.

The bout ultimately delivered on those monikers during the build-up and on fight night. The event, which saw the American move to 50-0 by stopping McGregor in round 10, sits behind only Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao as the second highest pay-per-view buy rate in history.

Given that financial success, many expected similar crossover bouts to be made in the future. But a once long-reigning champion found out that such was not the case.

Dana White refused to entertain Kamaru Usman’s desire to box Canelo Alvarez

In many ways, McGregor vs. Mayweather is credited for the ongoing crossover craze in combat sports, which has seen the likes of Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal, Anthony Pettis and many more all compete in boxing.

But what did they all have in common? No contractual obligation with the UFC.

When it comes to fighters actively under the UFC banner following in McGregor’s footsteps, the number remains zero.

Perhaps the most persistent in discussing his hopes to change that was Kamaru Usman while he ruled as the UFC’s welterweight champion and pound-for-pound king. Usman targeted P4P boxing star Canelo Alvarez, even vowing to knock the Mexican out.

But while the Nigerian-American’s push for the bout garnered plenty of attention in early 2022, the UFC’s head honcho made his stance clear.

“Everything about it is horrible. It’s a stupid fight to make, it makes no sense. I don’t know how many people would be interested in seeing that,” White told Sky Sports.

“When Conor and Floyd fought, it took on a life of its own. Everywhere I went, people asked me if those two are going to fight. It just kept building, building and building. It ended up being the biggest pay-per-view ever.

“Something could come along but the whole boxing vs. MMA thing is silly,” White added.

What Canelo Alvarez said about boxing UFC star Kamaru Usman

In rejecting any possibility of the fight coming together, White and the UFC seemingly served as the only red light.

Following Usman’s frequent callouts, Alvarez gave somewhat of a thumbs up while speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.

“Maybe. Why not? You never say no, right?” Alvarez said. “My trainer told me about it. And I said, ‘If you say [so].’”

The Mexican fighter did, however, insist that he wanted to secure his legacy in boxing before committing to any novelty or crossover opportunities.

“[The Usman fight is] not really on my mind. I want a really good legacy for my career, and then we can talk about other things.”

Since talk of that fight, the pound-for-pound boxing star has continued finding success in the ring. Most recently, Alvarez became a two-time undisputed champion at super middleweight by defeating William Scull.

Usman, meanwhile, has fallen on hard times inside the Octagon. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ hasn’t won a fight since White rejected his boxing hopes, losing to Leon Edwards twice and Khamzat Chimaev.

The 38-year-old will look to record a first win in four years when he headlines the UFC Atlanta event against Joaquin Buckley on June 14.