Boxing

UFC And WWE Parent Company COO Gives Update On Creation Of New Boxing League

UFC president Dana White is close to securing his entrance into the boxing business.
Grant Young|
July 18, 2024; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship, introduces Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum. The final day of the RNC featured a keynote address by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Mandatory Credit: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY
July 18, 2024; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship, introduces Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum. The final day of the RNC featured a keynote address by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Mandatory Credit: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY | Jasper Colt-USA TODAY

While UFC president Dana White's first love was boxing, and he has been very busy with other combat sports-related endeavors over his career.

Of course, the biggest of these ventures is the UFC, which is by far the world's premier Mixed Martial Arts promotion and which Dan White has been the figurehead of for close to 30 years. However, White is also the owner of Power Slap, which is a slap fighting promotion.

For the past decade, there have been rumors about White's intention to get into the boxing business. And it now appears that his arrival onto the boxing scene is coming soon.

For those who don't know, TKO Group is the parent company of both the UFC and WWE.

While this deal hasn't been finalized, Mark Shapiro, COO of TKO, made a statement that offered optimism and provided more details on February 26, which wrote:

"Everybody knows we're in talks with the Saudis. But to give you a little more color, I will tell you that we are close on an agreement with the Saudis on the creation of a boxing league where we, TKO, would be the producer, the promoter and responsible for all day-to-day operations of the venture, whereby we would receive a fee of $10 million-plus."

It will be fascinating to see how White can change the landscape of boxing like he did for MMA.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.