Dana White’s long-awaited move into boxing has barely begun, yet it has already produced its first notable contradiction.
When White and Zuffa Boxing formally announced their arrival last September, they did so with unmistakable intent. Backed by serious financial muscle, a long-term broadcast deal with Paramount Plus and the combined influence of White, TKO, Sela and Turki Alalshikh, the message was clear: boxing was about to be shaken up.
Zuffa’s stated aims were ambitious. Build stars. Make the best fights. Reform the Muhammad Ali Act to better protect fighters. Move away from boxing’s four sanctioning bodies and introduce an in-house ranking system, streamlined weight classes and Zuffa-owned titles.
At the time White heard the outside noise and seemed determined to do it his own way.
“The model is the model that we have [in UFC]. … WBC, IBF, WBA, etc., etc. They will deal with those traditional promoters that are out there that exist right now. We’re not going to do that.”
Fast forward a few months and, on the eve of Zuffa Boxing’s inaugural show on Friday night, that hard-line stance already appears to be softening.
Last week, Zuffa pulled off a genuine coup by signing IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia. The Australian has been vocal about his desire to unify the division at 200lbs before moving up to heavyweight — ambitions that sit squarely within the existing sanctioning-body structure Zuffa had previously suggested it would avoid.
More significantly, it has also emerged that unified WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is in talks with Zuffa over a potential move that would send shockwaves through the sport and destabilise White’s promotional rivals.
Asked about the situation at this week’s Zuffa Boxing launch press conference, White appeared to row back on his earlier position, signalling a more flexible approach.
“All of this is sort of a work in progress. Obviously these guys all came from somewhere. They had plans, they had dreams from when they were kids and first put on a pair of gloves. We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that these guys can do what they wanted to do. We’ll work with Jai and probably many other guys on stuff like this.
“I sort of came out a little vague. I don’t like to let everybody know what we’re doing until we do it. Like I said, this is all a work in progress and yeah you’ll see.”
Whether this marks pragmatism or a quiet retreat from Zuffa’s original ideals remains to be seen — but before the first bell has even rung, White’s vision for boxing is already being tested by the realities of the sport he set out to reform.
