15 Most Influential People in Boxing, UFC & WWE [Ranked]

Most of the prime figures in fight sports activities will come collectively in Las Vegas on Saturday evening for an uncommon occasion that sees high-profile bouts in boxing and UFC occur concurrently. Boxing star Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will defend his unified tremendous middleweight belt in opposition to Edgar Berlanga, whereas Sean O’Malley’s UFC bantamweight title battle in opposition to Merab Dvalishvili can even happen within the first-ever sporting occasion on the metropolis’s Sphere enviornment.

Among the greatest names within the battle world might be in attendance, together with Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Normal Leisure Authority, whose Riyadh Season sponsorship of each boxing and MMA has led to a rise in curiosity in each sports activities. UFC chairman Dana White can even be cageside for O’Malley’s bout, whereas the boxing occasion will appeal to the likes of Al Haymon, one of many sport’s essential energy brokers.

With such a momentous evening for fight sports activities in retailer, ESPN have ranked the highest 15 most influential figures throughout boxing, MMA, and wrestling, to seek out out who holds probably the most energy within the preventing recreation in 2024.

ESPN’s rating elements embody:

Autonomy: capacity to affect one’s sport with unilateral decision-making energy Cash: entry to funds to help deal-making Identify recognition: capacity to amplify one’s message and affect {the marketplace} Affect: capacity to shift the panorama based mostly on presence alone

10 Al Haymon

Premier Boxing Champions Founder

The aforementioned Haymon based Premier Boxing Champions in 2015 after beforehand managing each Vernon Forrest and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Haymon constructed up a roster of over 100 fighters, with the Ohio-native having a selected knack for maximising revenue for his shoppers, as demonstrated by the truth that Canelo will headline a pay-per-view particular for PBC for the third consecutive battle. Boxing supervisor Keith Connolly mentioned of Haymon: “Lots of people tried to rely him out over the past couple of years and, as standard, he proved them fallacious by placing collectively a number of the greatest pay-per-view fights of the final year-and-a-half. Al will all the time be a powerhouse within the sport till he decides to retire from boxing. He has all the time been a genius so far as maximising what high-level boxers could make over the course of their careers. That’s his present.”

9 Eddie Hearn

Matchroom Sport Chairman

The Matchroom Sport chairman has revolutionised boxing within the UK by bringing many enormous bouts to England, largely through his affiliation with Anthony Joshua. Hearn’s work as Joshua’s promoter has helped to show the Watford fighter into one of many greatest names within the sport, with the identical being true of Katie Taylor in girls’s boxing. Beneath Hearn’s tutelage, Joshua has bought out Wembley Stadium, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Joshua mentioned of his promoter: “I do not know many individuals who’ve the work ethic and integrity Eddie has, he might be within the recreation for a lot of, a few years to return doing large issues.”

8 Hunter Campbell

UFC chief enterprise officer

Because the UFC’s chief enterprise officer, Campbell is instrumental in placing collectively the corporate’s enterprise offers and PPV fights alongside the chairman, White. Campbell has sole management of the enterprise aspect of the corporate, and has to cope with the 700 plus fighters on the UFC roster. Often seen cageside alongside White, Campbell is the corporate’s string-puller within the background, whereas White is the corporate’s face.

7 Conor McGregor

UFC fighter

Regardless of not preventing since 2021, McGregor stays an enormous determine within the sport, and can generate intense media and enterprise curiosity each time he chooses to battle once more. McGregor will certainly be a key subject of debate when the UFC enters negotiations about media rights subsequent yr. The Irishman is likely one of the sport’s greatest attracts, together with his 2017 battle with Floyd Mayweather having 4.3 million PPV purchases. Dana White mentioned of McGregor: “Conor is able to doing something, man. He is aware of what he is doing. He is aware of what he desires to do. He is very calculated in what he does.”

6 Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

WWE Famous person & TKO board of administrators

After a profitable Hollywood profession, The Rock returned to the WWE ring this yr after 11 years away. His presence made WrestleMania XL one of the vital hotly-anticipated in years, leading to document attendances and TV rankings. The Brahma Bull delivered in his comeback battle and can return to ‘Mania subsequent yr. Johnson is now a board member at TKO, which implies he can form each WWE and the UFC for years to return. “Dwayne is a textbook instance of the laborious work and willpower required to develop into a real multi-hyphenate,” Ariel Emmanuel, the corporate’s CEO mentioned. “In reality, he wrote the playbook for thus many who’ve come up after him: athletes and entertainers alike.”

5 Paul “Triple H” Levesque

WWE chief content material officer

Levesque was one of many prime stars in WWE as “Triple H” from 1995 to 2022. His stature has arguably grown since then in his position as WWE’s chief content material officer. Beneath Levesque’s watch, the corporate’s improved artistic path has been praised constantly by followers, with the person ability units and personalities of every performer coming to the fore. WWE champion Cody Rhodes mentioned of him: “When the second got here for him to take over with Nick Khan and lead the ship creatively, he helped information WWE to large tv rankings and social engagement will increase. I take the sphere for him with immense pleasure.”

4 Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez

Boxer

Canelo has an affect in boxing that no different fighter can match. Each battle of his turns into a marquee occasion, attracting enormous PPV buys and attendances, with 4 of his fights exceeding a million PPV buys. An icon in his native Mexico, Canelo’s free agent standing provides him appreciable autonomy as to who he fights and who promotes him. Boxing promoter Lou DiBella mentioned of him: “In any sport, it is solely the most important of stars who can name their very own photographs. Canelo has been that man for a very long time in boxing, and he has maximised his autonomy and skill to leap round the place the cash is biggest. Within the ‘Dodge Metropolis of sports activities,’ it’s a must to be a wise man, with an excellent lawyer, to try this. What makes Canelo so totally different is that he is used his leverage well, with out most of the missteps that I’ve watched different stars make ceaselessly since my HBO days.”

3 Nick Khan

WWE president & TKO board of administrators

The previous co-head of TV at Inventive Artists Company helped develop the enterprise aspect of WWE massively upon becoming a member of the corporate in 2020. Khan was instrumental in brokering profitable offers with Fanatics, Netflix, and NBC Common, whereas additionally increasing the corporate’s sponsorship portfolio. Dwayne Johnson mentioned of Khan: “He is redefined WWE’s world presence and has set new benchmarks within the business throughout all verticals. Nick’s develop into a detailed and trusted consigliere to me in addition to being an absolute killer — the type you need within the foxhole with you.”

2 Dana White

UFC president

After turning into UFC chairman in 2001, White turned the game into an empire, and pushed it into the mainstream through his charisma and promotional capacity. The UFC has develop into a billion-dollar enterprise on White’s watch and has attracted many main sponsors and media rights offers. Mark Shapiro, TKO’s chief working officer, paid tribute to the UFC’s rise underneath White, saying: “When you think about the truth that the UFC is simply 30 years previous, his work is much more exceptional: by sheer grit and willpower, he has turned what was largely a pariah within the sports activities business only a few years in the past into a world juggernaut that has different majors taking notes.”

1 Turki Alalshikh

Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Normal Leisure Authority

The chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Normal Leisure Authority has rapidly gained enormous energy in boxing, MMA, and wrestling by leveraging the nation’s wealth to fund profitable investments in every sport. Alalshikh has the strongest affect in boxing, the place he has revitalised the heavyweight division of the game by commercialising marquee occasions through promotion and funding. The Riyadh Season of occasions that he places on have helped deliver a brand new glitz to boxing, whereas additionally commercialising Saudi Arabia. Alalshikh has been instrumental in bringing Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight title battle in opposition to Daniel Dubois to Wembley later this month. Boxing star Terence Crawford mentioned of him: “Boxing was going downhill earlier than Turki and Riyadh Season grew to become concerned. The game had misplaced creativeness. However he is introduced again massive fights regularly and given them the promotion they deserve. And it isn’t concerning the cash; Turki is succeeding as a result of he treats boxers like pals and companions, not enemies to be exploited. Some are intimidated by his efforts. He’s right here to repair the best sport on the planet. And he’ll do it.” Alalshikh has additionally secured a profitable sponsorship of Saturday’s UFC occasion at The Sphere, in addition to a number of WWE occasions annually in Saudi Arabia.