Dana White Explains How His New Boxing Venture Will Work After UFC 313

Dana White revealed on Saturday, the 8th of March, fresh details about his new boxing venture with the sweet science’s latest financier, Turki Alalshikh, which the power pairing announced earlier this week.

GIVEMESPORT reporter Alan Dawson has heard from White himself numerous times over the past year about how he intends to enter boxing, become an HBO for the sport of boxing, and try and influence the way in which the sport is promoted, produced, and broadcast.

Earlier this week, we heard that he’ll be helping oversee a league for emerging talent, alongside Alalshikh. The league is expected to host its first fights in 2026, however, the UFC boss is expected to be on-site for a number of prominent, Alalshikh-funded boxing events this year, like Canelo vs Crawford.

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Dana White Explains How His New Boxing Venture Could Work

The UFC boss wants to create the next generation of boxing superstars

Speaking to reporters after UFC 313, which saw Magomed Ankalaev stun Alex Pereira with a five-round win, White explained what kind of fighters he’d want to sign in boxing. “Just like any combat sport you’re looking for the most exciting, and talented, up-and-coming boxers.

White said Alalshikh is already “the dominant player in boxing right now” and that his role will be to “run the business with him.”

He said: “This is not an easy business. A lot of people tried to get into this sport, the fight business. It looks like a fun business to be in — until you start spending money. Turki and his crew found out quickly that it’s tougher than it seems. [He] came to me and worked out a deal that we run the business.”

Alalshikh’s alliance with White has attracted conversation through the industry about what happens to boxing promoters that the Saudi Arabian minister had previously worked with, like Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn and Queensberry founder Frank Warren. Alalshikh has even cut partnership deals with Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, and Bob Arum’s Top Rank.

One reporter asked White whether his relationship with Alalshikh now freezes out those promoters. “If you think about UFC when we bought the company, we had three letters, the old Octagon, and 12 contracts. I think the sport of boxing is so broken and needs to be built up again. That’s what I’m focused on,” he answered, dancing around the question.

White then said he was inspired by Tuesday Night Fights on ESPN as it focused on “the best up-and-coming fighters.” He believes that mirrors the UFC. “We built stars and they became pay-per-view stars.”

He finished by remarking that he’d heard Canelo Alvarez’s praise, effectively welcoming him into the pound-for-pound mainstay’s sport.

“We got a lot of work to do over the next couple weeks,” he said. “I got a big boxing meeting on Wednesday. Not to mention, I’ve talked a lot of s*** about boxing for the last 25 years. So I’ve got to get to work and figure out not just the infrastructure, who we’re going to hire, like we have at the UFC over the last 25 years.

“Now I got to do that for boxing. I’ve got the office space, and now it’s time to fill it.”

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