Dana White has long had a love-hate relationship with boxing. As the head of the UFC, he’s often mocked the boxing industry and its business practices. Now, however, the UFC CEO has announced plans to step into the boxing world as a promoter himself. Yet, his path forward is already facing unexpected challenges.
White’s announcement about entering the boxing world was warmly received by many of its fans. During TKO’s third-quarter earnings call, President Mark Shapiro was asked about White’s potential venture into boxing. Shapiro discussed it in detail, highlighting the key conditions and challenges behind this new development.
Dana says a lot of things and has a lot of passions. That’s why we love him. He’s also the best promoter in the sport of MMA, and if was boxing…Boxing, at its best, is confused and fragmented. At its worst, it’s broken…we would expect to do so in an organic way, not a MMA way. IE, we’re not writing a check.
Mark Shapiro during TKO earnings call
The President of Endeavor stated that they are looking for a collaboration that will provide them with funding. The ultimate plan revolves around using that fund to operate a sustainable business around boxing. White has already revealed that he’s coming in guns blazing to save boxing, and it would be interesting to see how that will work out.
Mark Shapiro is asked about Dana White’s recent comments about getting into boxing. He says there is nothing to announce today, but if they were to get into boxing:
‘We kind of see it as doing it with a partner who would fund it and pay us to operate. So, nothing to announce… pic.twitter.com/J7gXHkKeDB
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 6, 2024
Boxing experts like Mike Tyson, Eddie Hearn, etc. have already shown their support for White’s move toward boxing. On the other hand, White’s old nemesis and former boxing champion, Oscar De La Hoya, has been critical of it. All this drama is already helping to create the much-needed hype behind the move.
Dana White isn’t a fan of this particular thing about boxing
Dana White has been a part of UFC for more than twenty years and knows how it’s different from boxing. The primary business distinction between MMA and boxing is structure. MMA, particularly the UFC, is centralized, allowing a single organization to handle athletes and schedule top fights effectively. In contrast, boxing is decentralized, with various promoters and governing organizations (e.g., WBC, WBA), making collaborations difficult.
Promoters frequently have opposing interests, which causes high-profile contests to be postponed or canceled. In contrast, UFC maintains consistency and makes the best fighters fight each other. Other than this, there are various other small things that White isn’t a fan of.
They walk out with their team, they walk out with the guys who trained them and helped them get there. We don’t turn into fu***ng of circus and if you ever noticed in boxing there is 500 people in the ring that don’t belong who the f**k are these people and why are they in there.
Dana White via FULL SEND PODCAST
While White finds it annoying, flamboyant walkouts in boxing are definitely a huge part of its essence. They are entertaining for fans and add a layer of drama to the fight. Nowadays, fighters like Alex Pereira are starting to add their flavor to make UFC walkouts more engaging.
