UFC veteran Matt Brown isn’t on board with Dana White’s plan to bring a UFC-style system into boxing.
TKO Group Holdings, UFC’s parent company, has already begun its push into the sport, promoting last weekend’s Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez showdown. The official launch of Zuffa Boxing is set for 2026, with plans to build a roster and crown champions under contract. Much of that, however, hinges on the approval of the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, a proposed law in Congress that would reshape current rules, including protections that stop promoters from also acting as managers.
Brown, who spent 16 years in the UFC, believes if that law passes, Zuffa Boxing could tighten its grip on the sport in a way that hurts fighters.
“The big issue is what they’ve done with the UFC is they’ve monopolized the sport,” Matt Brown said on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “This is why you see guys a couple of weeks ago like [Carlos] Prates begging for his friend to get a shot in the UFC. You see guys like me, I’m guilty of it, like ‘can I get that $50,000 bonus, please? Please master?’ That’s not the way it’s supposed to work. The reason it doesn’t work that way in boxing, you’ve never heard a single boxer in my lifetime beg the promoter for anything, is because of the Ali Act. The UFC is trying to revise it, which actually means destroy it.”
Brown warned that a system where a single entity controls rankings, titles, and fighter opportunities would be devastating for boxing.
The UFC is already facing antitrust lawsuits accusing the promotion of operating as a monopoly. Disclosed financial records revealed fighters typically receive only 16 to 20 per cent of revenue, compared to athletes in the NFL and NBA who earn around 50 per cent through collective bargaining.
“The UFC is making good money,” Brown said. “The fighters are making, you could say millions of dollars is good money, which it is. But when you’re making someone else $100 million and you’re making $10 million, you’re not making good money. When there’s a single entity with a monopoly controlling who gets that payday, that’s when it becomes a problem.”
“When Dana said this is not a career, this is an opportunity, that is so wrong,” Brown said. “Looking back, I’m like that is so f*cking wrong. Basically, you have an opportunity to use the UFC brand to push yourself. I can’t hate on it, it created an opportunity for me. But it should be able to be a career. You should be able to make retirement money if you’re that good of a fighter.
“Dana also uses this, you eat what you kill. That is so false. You eat what we give you. If Conor [McGregor] goes out and sells 5 million pay-per-views, he doesn’t get what he killed. He gets what the UFC says you can have, maybe $10 million, while the UFC takes $80 or $100 million. That’s Dana eating what you killed.”
Brown understands the frustration boxing fans feel when promoters fail to agree on big fights. Still, he argued that adopting UFC-style promotion would cause more harm than good.
“From the fans, they see all the bullshit in boxing, and they’re like ‘they’ll come in and fix it!’ That’s what they’re trying to pitch to you,” Brown said. “You’ll get to see the fights you want, but ultimately, when you break it down, there’s no way the pay stays the same. The reason Crawford got $50 million and Canelo got $150 million is because the promoters were fighting for them. That’s because of the Ali Act. With this revision, they want fighters begging the promoters instead of promoters working for the fighters.”
With Zuffa Boxing gearing up for launch in 2026, Brown admits he doesn’t know exactly how things will play out. However, based on experience, he’s convinced UFC’s model won’t benefit athletes.
“I always have to preface this with one thing: I’m not hating on the UFC,” Matt Brown said. “I don’t hate Dana White or the UFC. They built a brilliant business. It’s just not a good model for the athletes. We’re a bunch of fighting dogs begging for scraps.”
