Dana White is serious about moving into boxing this time.
Over the past several years, the White has made numerous claims about jumping into the sweet science, even promoting Zuffa boxing as far back as 2017 when Conor McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather. But for as often as White has declared his “in” on boxing, he’s just as often decried the sport for being “so broken that it can’t be fixed.” But earlier this week, White teased another venture into boxing and on Tuesday night he expounded a little on the matter.
“I did my first fight in Ireland and we’ll start announcing stuff here [at the] beginning of 2025,” White told reporters following the latest episode of Contender Series.
White is referring to the Callum Walsh vs. Przemyslaw Runowski fight he attended this past weekend in Dublin, Ireland. White and Walsh’s promoter Tom Loefller have a long-standing relationship and the event was streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.
At this point, it’s unclear what White’s foray into boxing will look like, and the UFC CEO is unwilling to divulge further information at this time. Given White’s many stops and starts with boxing in the past, some are skeptical that this time will be any different, but White insists that this time it’s real.
“Every time I get on the phone with these guys I go, ‘Am I out of my f*cking mind?’ But I think that obviously now is the time or I would have done it then,” White said. “I was kicking around — I was even talking about Anthony Joshua at one time and stuff like that. I’m glad that I pumped the brakes and we waited. Everything is about timing. Is now the time? We’re going to find out…
“There’s a million reasons why now is [the time],” White continued. “If you notice, as far as boxing goes, even as much money as Sheik Turki is throwing into this thing, television deals aren’t really abundant right now. There’s just a lot of things that I think I can do that other people haven’t done yet.”
Promotion is very different between boxing and MMA, primarily due to the Ali Act, which provides federal oversight and certain protections to fighters that do not currently extend to MMA. But White insists he has a plan for how to handle the different promotional aspects of things.
“I have a plan. I’m going to implement that plan and we’ll see how it works,” White said. “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.”
