As Sky Sports signs a new landmark deal with Zuffa Boxing, Dana White answers our questions about his boxing promotion and their ambitions for the future…
How longstanding has your involvement in boxing been?
I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for boxing. I’ve always loved boxing. I was managing fighters and the Fertitta brothers, my partners in the UFC, we got into jiu-jitsu and through jiu-jitsu we started to meet UFC fighters and I started managing some of the guys and through that I found out that the UFC was for sale and we ended up buying it two months later.
But everything that I loved about boxing and everything that I hated about boxing is what I used to build the UFC. Because I didn’t know anything about production or MMA at the time.
So boxing was absolutely, positively my first love.
Is this like a full circle moment, you’re coming back to boxing to reshape the things you didn’t like about it?
It really is. It’s been fun so far. I’m really happy with the team that I’ve built, the matchmaking is excellent. We’re only four fight nights in and the shows keep getting better and better. That’s the beauty of it.
They are just going to get better and better from here on out.
Andy Scott takes a closer look at Zuffa and the ambitious plans they have for boxing on Sky Sports
What’s the competition architecture going to look like in the long run?
You’d have one champion in every weight class and you’d be in a situation where people can rattle off who all the champions are in each weight class again.
I want to introduce lots of young people who have never seen the sport to the sport of boxing. We’re in 88 different countries already on television, being on Sky Sports is massive. I’m most excited about introducing people who have never experienced the sport and not just on TV but to live events and turning them into fans.
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British crowds and atmospheres are something else, is that part of why you wanted to come over here?
Yes, and the UK is part of what’s kept boxing alive for however many years and Sky Sports. But the fans over here are rabid.
The fans in the UK love fights and when you bring the right fight over here, the energy and the buzz is incredible and it’s something that you have to experience at least once in your life.
Sky Sports Boxing has been your ringside ticket for many years and that drama and excitement is about to start all over again
Your stance on other title belts, is it a work in progress at the moment, in that it’s a case-by-case basis?
Everything right now is a work in progress for us getting into this. When you have a guy like Jai Opetaia, this guy has dreams and goals and things that he wanted to achieve. When we sign these kids we’re going to figure out how they can still achieve and accomplish all the things that they want to do inside Zuffa Boxing. It’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be challenging but that’s the plan right now. It’s all a work in progress.
Do you have a wishlist of fights you want to make in the next year or two?
We’re going to do everything from kids you’ve never heard of to the biggest fights that you can possibly make in the sport and everything in between.
Me personally I do a show we call Dana White’s Contender Series where we take the best unsigned talent for UFC, that’s my favourite thing to do. I like that better than the big blockbuster fights. For me I am a true fight fan to the core. I love finding up-and-coming talent, building them up and seeing if they can become world champions.
I love everything about the sport. We want to make obviously the biggest fights that we can possibly make, that we can do at Wembley and all the different great arenas around the UK. But I also love seeing the up-and-coming kids’ fights.
