He built UFC into an $18bn empire. Now Dana White’s bold plan to fix ‘broken’ boxing begins

Dana White is a boxing man right down to that yellowing ticket stub on display inside his plush Las Vegas office.

A trinket sitting atop a shelf, and just below Flea’s autographed guitar.

Nearby, a Samurai suit of armour so rare they say, a Japanese museum curator accompanied its shipping Stateside.

Up on a wall too, White has a Yakuza painting valued at $1.2 million.

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But the fading ticket stub?

Well, that cost just $7.75.

Or at least it did way back in 1936.

When said slip gained some fella entry into Yankee Stadium’s lower tier – Row K, Seat 16 — for that night Joe Louis fought Max Schmeling for the heavyweight title.

And White, he’s also a Joe Louis man.

Which is why that stub now sits on display inside a protective case.

And why when entering the foyer of these sprawling UFC headquarters – a joint the boss has effectively built from bankruptcy to $18 billion – you’re also greeted by a large, bronzed likeness of The Brown Bomber.

That one, White was gifted by Caesars Palace.

While back up in his office, there is also a faux heavyweight belt from The Palms.

Awarded, he told us once, after taking them a second time for $2 million.

“Which,” he grinned, “was the casino’s polite way of saying ‘don’t f***ing come back’.”

Yet just like he goes after it on the blackjack tables, so White is now readying to go big on that other great love – boxing.

A truth proved by everything happening this Sunday.

When White’s first foray into boxing promotion involves overseeing the slobberknocker that is Canelo Alvarez versus Terence Crawford — aka, ‘The Fight of the Century’.

As far as first up boxing promotions go, they don’t get much bigger.

Creates a fair quinella too given White also played a lead role on Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor.

And OK, so Saudi billionaire Turki Al-Sheikh also has fingerprints all over Sunday’s showdown.

But more on His Excellency soon enough.

First, White.

Who is not simply beating the promotional drum for the first time ever in boxing this week, but adamant his new take on an old soundtrack – boom, boom, boom – can change the sport forever.

WHY DOES WHITE WANT INTO BOXING?

For the longest time, Dana White has said boxing is broken.

And now, he’s here to fix it.

Which, of course, is partly true.

Understanding that while there are still fights like this Sunday’s blockbuster generating worldwide attention and staggering purses – with Canelo, for example, earning upwards of $100 million — they aren’t anything like the norm.

As a business, boxing is somewhat fractured.

With sleeves needing to be rolled by anyone who chooses to look under its hood.

And while the UFC, undeniably, has its own issues – just like any sporting league — there is no doubting the global powerhouse it’s become.

Of course, it should also be pointed out that if boxing were truly “broken”, how could a fight like Sunday’s exist?

Same as it’s worth noting how more than one UFC star recently has talked aloud of chasing themselves a crossover fight in the ring, and not a cage – aware of the cash available for throwing down under Queensberry Rules.

But hey, why does anyone get into prizefighting?

It’s the prize.

Cash.

And in White, you have a bloke with a knack of making plenty.

Undeniably, the UFC boss is a promotional genius.

In fight sports, arguably best on ground.

And he’s an old school boxing man.

Apart from boxing in the amateurs as a teen, or then setting up a gym in Boston with Golden Gloves champion Peter Welch, the UFC boss has always stayed incredibly close to the sport.

In 2017, he co-promoted MayMac.

Which grossed way more than he’s even taken from The Palms.

And now it’s Canelo-Crawford.

The type of fight that represents a win for the sport, for the fighters, and for the fans.

It also goes to the heart of what prizefighting is about.

Cha-ching.

WHAT IS ZUFFA BOXING?

This one is still a little tougher to work out.

What we do know is that just like the UFC and WWE, Zuffa Boxing will be another arm of the TKO Holdings group.

Already, White has said Zuffa Boxing will be run as a ‘league’.

Early in the year, there were suggestions the new group would put on a dozen events annually, four of which would be ‘megashows’.

Yet in an interview with journalist Amber Dixon on Thursday, the UFC boss suggested his vision represents something more akin to a boxing version of Dana White’s Contender Series – with winners then progressing to high profile Riyadh or Ring events.

“What I’m gonna do is basically like the Contender series,” he said.

“The best will fight the best. Undefeated guys will fight undefeated guys.

“I’ll build stars, put on great fights and then these guys will graduate and fight with Sheikh Turki …”

The interview raised some eyebrows given what had already been touted for Zuffa boxing — which included a hyped league that, just like the UFC, would control the belt system, rankings, and ensure the best fight the best.

Under White’s league, he would also control everything from matchmaking and rankings to broadcast rights.

Uncrowned’s Alan Dawson wrote this week that while some see the move as a “cash grab” – or worse – others are hailing it “a chance to inject stability, marketing muscle and mainstream visibility into a fragmented sport struggling to connect with casual fans”.

Speaking with ESPN earlier this year about his plans for Zuffa Boxing, White promised significant changes to areas like weight classes and championships, while also simplifying the sport for fans.

“We’re going to have the basic weight classes that started everything,” he said.

“There’s going to be one belt.

“It’ll be like the UFC, the model that we have.

“You know how you’re going to know who the champion is? Because they’re going to fight their way up through the gauntlet.

“And once you get into the top five, you know who the five baddest dudes in the heavyweight division are.

“And then you’ll find out who the champion is.

“WBC, IBF, WBA, etc, they deal with those traditional promoters that are out there right now; we’re not going to do that.”

HOW DOES WHITE MAKE IT HAPPEN?

Before White can create a boxing version of the UFC, there must first be changes to the Ali Act.

Established in 1999, the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act aims to protect the rights and welfare of fighters, while also having no room for the type of overhaul Zuffa Boxing is now seeking.

Already however, a new bill has begun working its way through Congress proposing change.

Unsurprisingly too, people of genuine political clout are backing it.

“It’s going to pass,” Las Vegas boxing journalist Adam Hill wrote this week, “because that’s how things work.

“Changes would benefit fans … the bottom line is Zuffa Boxing is going to be good for fans.”

According to TKO executives, the new bill will see the Ali Act remain largely intact, but with a new category alongside existing sanctioning bodies — the Unified Boxing Organization, or UBO.

Under the proposed changes, a UBO would run its own rankings, crown its own champions, and stage its own events — a self-contained circuit that could, in theory, sit alongside the sport’s four current major organisations.

Of course, White has already played some minor role in the professional boxing space, helping to promote hyped Irish prospect Callum Walsh, who will appear on the Canelo-Crawford undercard. He also streamed a Roy Jones fight on UFC Fight Pass as far back as 2018, with other cards also following on from that.

WHAT ROLE WILL HIS EXCELLENCY PLAY?

In June, it was formerly announced that White’s new foray into boxing would take the Zuffa name – with a partnership struck between TKO Holdings and Sela, the Saudi Arabian events company overseen by Alalshikh.

Given White’s immense vision for the sport, having the endeavor largely funded by Saudi cash – while uncomfortable for some – creates incredible scope for how far Zuffa Boxing can go towards achieving all that.

Of course, His Excellency will also have a hand in how things play out.

A truth proved by this Sunday’s Canelo and Crawford showdown being held inside Allegiant Stadium – despite White not exactly being a fan.

Regardless, the partnership looms as an incredibly powerful one.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE FIGHTERS?

The biggest criticism of Zuffa Boxing, like with the UFC, largely centres around fighter pay.

Elsewhere, other critics suggest it is the shift in power, not pay, that worries them most – with concerns the Ali Act’s transparency requirements would be removed under the proposed new bill’s UBOs.

Exactly how it all shakes out remains to be seen, and opinions from the sport’s biggest stakeholders are varied.

However White has continually stressed his new league will allow fighters at all levels of the game to “make big money here”.

The UFC is promising to build stars through its undeniable marketing platform, while also giving boxers access to the $20 million UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.

As revealed by Fox Sports Australia this week, Crawford’s physical overhaul for the Canelo showdown has been done almost totally by a UFC performance team headed by Australia’s own Gavin Pratt.

Under Zuffa Boxing, even young prospects will have free access to everything the PI offers.

One of those behind the move is Andy Foster, executive officer of the California State Athletic Commission — one of America’s most influential regulators.

Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show this past week, Foster said: “Any time you get a big corporation that is well-financed, and has good broadcast deals — that’s good for fighters.

“I expect a broadcast deal, for it to be televised, and I expect it will be good for American boxers.

“It will make stars out of people we normally wouldn’t have seen.”

Foster also pointed out the UFC’s growth of MMA since the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter.

“Go back to 2004 or 2005,” he said.“The Ultimate Fighter with Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.

“Go back then and see how it has progressed.

“If it can do 5 per cent of that, boxing will be benefited.”