Dana White reveals surprising new business venture outside of the UFC

Wednesday March 5, will go down as one of the most important days in combat sports.

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At 9:30 a.m. ET, a video surfaced showing that UFC CEO Dana White and His Excellency Turki Al-Sheikh were seen together in New York City to unveil a new boxing league in partnership with TKO and Sela that sees White and WWE's Nick Khan run the day-to-day operations.

BOOOOOOM!!!!! Boxing here we come pic.twitter.com/XBRBT5mr3P
— danawhite (@danawhite) March 5, 2025

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During an already-busy stretch in White's career, which sees him serve as the UFC's CEO and run Power Slap concurrently, he said in an exclusive interview with Ring Magazine the timing couldn't be more perfect to dive into boxing after holding out for the better part of eight years.

‼️ Turki Alalshikh and Dana White speak exclusively to The Ring about their new boxing promotion: “Everybody knows the format - the best fight the best.” pic.twitter.com/PeXV7jHIdp
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) March 5, 2025

"We have just done a deal to start a new boxing league with Turki, who absolutely loves the sport of boxing,” White said.

White confirmed the last thing he expects to see from this league is the best fighters refusing to fight each other, much less any confusion regarding who holds belts from the WBC, WBO, WBA, and IBF.

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UFC president Dana White speaks at the podium before Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor. | Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images

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“The model is proven to deliver the fights that the fans want to see,” White added. “The best will fight the best and the fighters will continue to move up the rankings and become world champions. We will continue to make announcements on where you can watch and all the rest of the details on the business as we get closer to the launch.”

White said Alalshikh is the only person he would consider partnering with to work in boxing. Alalshikh is also adamant White is the only person to fix a broken model, coining the phrase the "flag of boxing" which White can now lay claim to.

“I am very happy today,” Alalshikh said. “I am very happy today. I give the flag of boxing to the best man who can handle it. We have a tough job now, but I am sure he will be delivering to the people and the fans the magnificent league and get boxing great again.”

UFC CEO Dana White during weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night at Amalie Arena. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

According to a press release announcing the joint venture, a "highly structured system" is going to be implemented to ensure the promotion runs smoothy. Further details were not disclosed, but it appears more info is forthcoming in the coming months.

The league is expected to start in 2026. Where, when, and which fighters are going to be involved could also rapidly change as the launch gets closer.

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For now, White can live out his "Zuffa Boxing" dream, even if it isn't called that.

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