3 Different Ways Dana White Could Begin His Boxing Takeover Now He’s ‘In’

Dana White confirmed Thursday that he is “in” when it comes to boxing.

The UFC boss is in Cork, Ireland this week to help promote 360 Promotions and Zuffa Boxing’s event with rising Irish super welterweight Callum Walsh in Friday’s main event against Przemyslaw Runowski. The event has reinvigorated conversations around White, and whether MMA’s most powerful figure will further his interests in boxing outside Walsh.

Well, ahead of the Walsh fight, White finally confirmed what GIVEMESPORT had long known, as we had asked him the question all year. He confirmed to us in 2023 that there is room at TKO Boxing — the umbrella company which owns market-leading pro wrestling firm WWE, and market-leading MMA firm UFC — for a boxing business. And, when we asked whether this business would be one he buys, like, for instance, Top Rank or Matchroom USA, or if he’d build one from scratch, he said: “I’d create [one].”

Speaking to reporters this week, White implied that he will enter the sport on a more indefinite basis, which begs the question as to what this boxing venture could look like.

Dana White Could Build a Company Around Callum Walsh

Tom Loeffler would be an obvious fit to head up this business

Walsh is one of boxing’s rising stars and could well headline some significant events in the near-future. The 154-pounder remains a prospect, but in the coming 12–24 months, he could become a contender.

His promoter, Tom Loeffler, who looked after the careers of Gennadiy Golovkin and the Klitschko brothers, among others, told GIVEMESPORT he’d love to organize a fight for Walsh against Top Rank star Xander Zayas who competes in a separate event Saturday. Should such a fight develop further, it is a bout that could headline the big room at Madison Square Garden in New York, considering Walsh’s Irish nationality, and Zayas’ Puerto Rican following. The fight would also have a box office promotion as it would bring together White, and an arch nemesis of his, Bob Arum at Top Rank.

Even without the Zayas fight, Walsh recently started talking in such a way that he could generate other big fights for himself, denigrating Ryan Garcia’s chances in MMA, should the divisive prizefighter swap boxing for that sport. He is also in a division currently home to other top tier stars like Vergil Ortiz, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr, and others.

Should White remain true to his word from 2023, and “create” a boxing company, then it makes sense to build that business around Walsh, and install Walsh’s promoter Loeffler as the head of it. White would be too busy to oversee UFC, Contender Series, and Power Slap to also promote boxing. White previously waxed lyrical over Loeffler to GIVEMESPORT before, though, calling him the best matchmaker in boxing. And considering Loeffler’s connections in the sport, together with his pre-existing relationship with White, it seems a natural fit.

Dana White Could Join Forces With Turki Alalshikh

This would mean White could become more influential in boxing than Eddie Hearn

Considering intel that GIVEMESPORT received about Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season likely launching a boxing league in early 2025, we asked White earlier this month if this aligned with anything he had planned for the sport, and if they could join forces.

He told us:

Alalshikh has worked with numerous promoters already in combat sports. Matchroom organized its recent Riyadh Season event in Los Angeles, and both Matchroom and Queensberry assisted in this weekend’s mega event involving Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois in a heavyweight boxing fight. Through Riyadh Season, Alalshikh has struck sponsorship deals with Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, and Bob Arum’s Top Rank.

Though Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions are yet to seal a similar partnership, Haymon has happily sent PBC fights to Riyadh Season shows, including Isaac Cruz, who fought Jose Valenzuela on August 3.

It is therefore unclear what White and UFC could offer Alalshikh in boxing that Riyadh Season doesn’t already have, with Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, Arum, de la Hoya, or even Haymon.

However, what UFC owner TKO Group does have is a possible working arrangement wherein one of UFC and/or WWE could, alongside TKO Boxing with Alalshikh, place a commission hold on a venue like Allegiant Stadium, The Sphere, or T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for a whole weekend. WWE Smackdown could take place on the Friday, UFC on Saturday, and TKO Boxing on Sunday. White also has extensive experience promoting throughout the entire US, which is something Hearn at Matchroom and Warren at Queensberry lack.

This goes against one of the things White says he enjoys doing the most, which is taking on a project from conception to reality without buying something else, or having outside involvement. Additionally, UFC likes running its own shop, and having the ultimate decision in production. There are no ESPN commentators at UFC, for example. They’re UFC contractors/employees, and UFC takes its own production to send it to ESPN, who then airs it. Whether he’d be comfortable sharing control with another party, like Alalshikh, remains to be seen.

Dana White Could Build a Boxing Platform For Guys Like Conor McGregor

McGregor has two fights left on his UFC deal

Finally, a TKO Boxing company could also be an avenue for the UFC to continue to influence and guide the careers of some of its biggest-name competitors, like Conor McGregor, who has two fights remaining on his UFC deal.

It is unclear if McGregor is committed to re-signing with the UFC, or if he’d prefer competing in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship — an organization in which he is part owner, and says he has a “player-manager” role for, or even boxing, so he can advance his pro record from the 0-1 that Floyd Mayweather inflicted onto him in 2017.

Though McGregor was scheduled to complete the penultimate fight on his current UFC deal June 29 in a headline bout against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in Las Vegas, he withdrew from that show citing a broken pinky toe and has yet to fight. McGregor, though, said he’d want to headline the UFC’s end-of-year show in December, again in Las Vegas — something White and the UFC has, up until this point, been loath to grant.

If big-name fighters like McGregor and, previously, Francis Ngannou, sought to maximize their earnings by leaving MMA for boxing, a boxing venture owned and operated by UFC’s owner TKO Group could be a way to entice them to remain in UFC or its affiliated organizations. They’d be able to box, while UFC receives its share as promoter.

One Thing That Could Hold Dana White’s Boxing Venture Back

He would struggle with ‘the lack of control,’ Eddie Hearn said earlier this year

Speaking earlier in 2024, Matchroom boss Hearn said White could struggle in boxing because of “the lack of control.”

He said: