UFC CEO Dana White has kicked around the idea of promoting boxing matches for years. In 2017, White pushed the concept of Zuffa Boxing but nothing came of it.
Fast forward seven years and White seems ready and eager to jump into the boxing arena. He’s recently promoted and supported Irish boxer Callum Walsh and expresses a renewed interest in boxing promotion. According to White, the time is now.
“I think, obviously, now is the time, or I would’ve done it (before). I was kicking around. I was even talking about Anthony Joshua at one time and stuff like that. I’m glad I pumped the brakes and we waited. Everything is about timing. Is now the time? We’re going to find out,” White said during the Dana White’s Contender Series Post-Fight Press Conference on Tuesday.
“There’s a million reasons why now is (the time),” White continued. “If you notice as far as boxing, even as much money as Sheikh Turki is throwing into this thing, television deals aren’t really abundant right now. There are just a lot of things I think I can do that other people haven’t done yet.”
Say whatever you will about White, but he’s proven to be one of the greatest promoters in combat sports. He grew a grassroots fight promotion into a sports franchise worth billions.
One of the biggest differences in promoting UFC fights and entering boxing is in the UFC almost all of the best fighters in the world are under one promotion. That’s not the case with boxing, but White plans to apply the UFC model to boxing promotion.
Dana White Plans to take UFC model to boxing promotion
“I have a plan,” White said. “I’m going to implement that plan and we’ll see how that works. We’ll see how this thing works. People have been talking about the demise of boxing for 30 years and we’re still here talking about boxing right now. I have always had an idea of how I thought it should be done. I don’t know if that’s possible, but we’re going to find out. I’m coming in guns blazing.”
“Well, it’s not like that hasn’t been done before (in boxing),” White continued. “There have been dominant promoters before that have had most of the talent locked up. But listen, I think if you asked anybody and even if you asked yourselves, the UFC model works. It works.”