UFC CEO Dana White has signed a boxing deal with Turki Alalshikh and plans to make significant changes to the sport.
White has long been open about his interest in boxing, and now, with his deal with Zuffa Boxing, owned by Turki Alalshikh, he finally has the opportunity to enter the space.
The first boxing event will debut on Saturday, with Terence Crawford set to battle Canelo Alvarez. The fight will stream live on Netflix and promises to deliver an entertaining showdown. While White applauds the promotional deal, he revealed that he has even bigger plans for 2026. He intends to launch a boxing version of his popular “Contender Series.”
“Basically, in 2026, I’m going to start my show, and what I’m going to do is basically like Contender Series,” White told Vegas PBS. “The best will fight the best, undefeated guys will fight undefeated guys, and what you will do is you will care about the first fight of the night, and not just the main event. So I will build stars, put on great fights, and then these guys will graduate and fight with Sheik Turki.”
For Dana White, the ultimate goal is to turn boxing into something more unified, similar to the UFC model.
“What we did with the UFC is turn the UFC into an NFL, an NBA,” White said. “There’s a league, you reinvest into the sport, and other people want to invest in the sport, whether it’s sponsors or any of these financial firms. That’s what needs to be done with boxing, too, and that’s what I’m going to attempt to do.
“Listen, there’s no ego or arrogance when I talk about getting into boxing and trying to ‘fix it.’ This is a busted sport.”
As much as White has many visions to accomplish, one of his greatest challenges has been the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act. This act prohibits promoters from engaging in anti-competitive practices, including controlling titles and rankings. The UFC and its parent company, TKO, are pushing for an amendment dubbed the “Ali Revival Act,” which seeks to roll back parts of these regulations. However, on Tuesday, the California State Athletic Commission withdrew its planned support following public backlash.
If the bill does not pass, White could face difficulties competing with established boxing promoters like Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren. Still, he says he is prepared for the challenge.
“Right now we probably have between 60 and 70 fighters under contract,” White said. “I think that the great thing about it is there’s a lot of options. Eddie Hearn is a great promoter. He’s very successful and, in my opinion, he’s a good guy. I like him very much. You’ve got Frank Warren out in the UK, who is very successful and does well. There are options, and we’re all going to have to compete and try to be better than the other guy to get the best talent.…
“I compete with the NFL, I compete with the NBA, I compete with big movie studios. Whatever takes your attention on Saturday night is my competition. So, as I get into boxing, it’s a totally different world from MMA. I’ve been doing this for 25 years. Twenty-six will be my first year in [boxing], so I will definitely be competing with the Eddie Hearns and the Frank Warrens of the world, but I look forward to it.”
Dana White is determined to reshape boxing with his Contender Series model and long-term vision for a unified league. Whether or not the Ali Revival Act passes, the UFC CEO is set on competing with established promoters and making boxing as dynamic as the UFC.
