September 13 will mark a historic second for Dana White, as certainly one of his long-time desires lastly turns into actuality. Canelo Alvarez is ready to face Terence Crawford in a Tremendous Middleweight title showdown at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, with the blockbuster bout streaming worldwide on Netflix. The occasion is being promoted by the UFC president in collaboration with Saudi Arabia’s Normal Leisure Authority chairman, Turki Alalshikh, and Saudi occasions firm Sela.
Again in March, the group revealed plans to launch a brand-new boxing league, an formidable transfer tied to White’s long-standing mission to repair a sport he has typically criticized as damaged, courting again to his Zuffa Boxing venture. Now, this mega combat between Alvarez and Crawford seems to be the primary main step in White’s bigger imaginative and prescient for boxing’s future. Nevertheless, the UFC head honcho has one other imaginative and prescient that he plans to implement subsequent yr.
Dana White Goals to Repair Boxing By means of UFC-Impressed DWCS Mannequin
It’s no secret that when the Fertitta brothers and Dana White purchased the UFC again in 2001 for simply $2 million, the game was on life help. MMA confronted widespread sanctions and was nonetheless thought of taboo in a lot of america. After investing almost $40 million, Lorenzo Fertitta was able to stroll away, till White satisfied his longtime good friend to take one final gamble with The Final Fighter in 2005.
The gamble paid off. The long-lasting finale between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar is extensively credited with saving the corporate, one thing White himself has typically acknowledged. Since then, White has gone on to launch one other fan-favorite product, Dana White’s Contender Collection.
The present offers up-and-coming fighters an opportunity to compete in what’s basically a dwell job interview, with UFC contracts awarded on the finish of the night time. Now, after the success of DWCS, White has revealed plans to convey an analogous idea to the world of boxing. In a latest interview with Vegas PBS, White revealed his grand plans.
He mentioned, “Mainly, in 2026, I’m gonna begin my present, and what I’m gonna do is mainly just like the Contender Collection, one of the best will combat one of the best, undefeated guys will combat undefeated guys, and what you’ll do is, you’ll care in regards to the first combat of the night time and never simply the primary occasion.”
White additionally weighed in on creating new stars from the get-go, just like the UFC did within the case of fighters like Sean O’Malley, Jack Della Maddalena, and Jamahal Hill, all of whom are reigning or former division champions.
He added, “So I’ll construct stars, placed on nice fights, after which these guys will graduate, you realize, and combat with (Turki Alalshikh) and they’re going to decide how a lot they receives a commission.”
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Past this, White’s final objective is to rework boxing into one thing resembling the UFC, a unified fight sports activities league. He has even in contrast his imaginative and prescient to the construction of the NBA and NFL.
White continued, “What we did with the UFC is flip the UFC into an NFL, an NBA. There’s a league, you reinvest into the game, and different individuals need to put money into the game, whether or not it’s sponsors or any of those monetary corporations, no matter it could be. That’s what must be accomplished with boxing, too, and that’s what I’m going to aim to do.”
He concluded his assertion by vowing to repair the game of boxing, which he labeled as busted. “Pay attention, there’s no ego or conceitedness after I discuss moving into boxing and attempting to ‘repair it.’ This can be a busted sport.”
Whether or not White’s boxing enterprise will succeed stays unsure. One of many largest hurdles he faces is the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, which was designed to forestall anti-competitive practices by promoters. The Act restricts promoters from controlling titles and rankings whereas additionally requiring better monetary transparency.
To push ahead, the UFC and dad or mum firm TKO have been backing an modification referred to as the Ali Revival Act, which might roll again a few of these restrictions. Nevertheless, the hassle took a significant hit on Tuesday when the California State Athletic Fee withdrew its deliberate help after going through heavy backlash throughout a public assembly.
If the invoice finally fails, White might discover it tougher to problem established boxing promoters like Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren. Nonetheless, the UFC CEO insists he is able to push ahead and compete within the boxing world over the approaching years. It is going to be fascinating to see how his imaginative and prescient for TKO Boxing unfolds sooner or later.
