Dana White Steps Back from Big Change in Boxing

UFC CEO Dana White has been eager to invest in boxing for many years, yet the UFC shareholders and other owners are unwilling to go that route. A few months ago, there was excitement when he announced that he was ready to jump into the boxing business. At that press conference, White confirmed that he will take action on this in 2025.

To clarify, White has already supported one of the current boxers, Callum Walsh. He is an Irish undefeated boxer, but White has said that more investment in boxing is coming.

Dana White and TKO Group Holdings

At that time, White seemed to not care about other shareholders, especially the owners of WWE, including those known as Endeavor Group Holdings. His vision of the “all-in” on boxing might not be what the UFC owners at TKO Group Holdings are looking forward to. TKO Group Holdings president and COO Mark Shapiro addressed White’s comments during a quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, speaking on his boss’s behalf.

Mark Shapiro said this about boxing. “Nothing to announce today, but this is one area we will continue to explore. We’ve talked about a dearth of leagues out there. We’re acquiring Professional Bull Riders. There’s not much else. We don’t necessarily need to add anything to our model, but boxing is ripe for a fix.”

Future of UFC

This means TKO is not likely to start opening its wallet and splash big bucks in boxing anytime soon. Most people are talking about the time when Dana said this, “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. We’re going to find out. I’m coming in guns blazing.”

Now everyone is wondering how White will react to the statement from Mark Shapiro and his plans for boxing. Dana White is also doing good at Powerslap. He might want to come into boxing like he did with the Power Slap. The new organization also includes TKO massively and has also played a big role in the initial stages.

Final Thoughts

For now, White will focus on UFC as the year is ending and some important matches are coming up, such as UFC 309, which has a possible retirement of big Champions like Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. So Dana would do his best to make these events as big as possible.

Instead of boxing, Dana would be focusing on events like UFC 309. But one thing is certain: Dana will take some big steps in the middle or end of 2025 regarding boxing. The reason for these big steps is that boxing athletes are making good money as compared to MMA fighters making the MMA fighters leave MMA and go for boxing. A prime example of that is Francis Ngannou. What are your thoughts about the future of UFC in boxing and Dana White’s role in it?