Although Zuffa Boxing will not officially launch until 2026, the UFC boss is already making headlines in the sport.
Earlier this month, he teamed up with Turki Alalshikh to co-promote Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
Before that, White’s last appearance in boxing was during Conor McGregor’s high-profile bout with Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
Now, eight years later, the 56-year-old is back and this time planning to stay, with ambitious plans that have some big names in combat sports concerned.
Roy Jones Jr. shares his concerns over Dana White’s boxing ambitions
White has put forward some significant changes to the sport, including suggested updates to the Ali Act that would give Zuffa Boxing the power to set up its own titles and rankings, operating outside of the existing governing bodies.
Speaking with MMA Knockout, Roy Jones Jr. didn’t hold back when asked about what White’s entry could mean for boxing.
“So it’s very bad for the sport of boxing,” Jones Jr. said. “Because they’re trying to turn boxing kind of into MMA, and that’s not good.
“Boxing has too much history. Boxing came with those belts before they (UFC and MMA) got here.
“If you take that away from boxing, you’re killing a lot of their history. And a lot of people, like myself, are not going to be happy with that. So I don’t like it, no.”
Jones added: “I don’t think (White will) be a positive. If he found out a way to work with the sanctioning bodies and do everything else, he’d be positive because he’s done it with the UFC.”
Daniel Cormier shares similar concerns about Dana White’s boxing plan
It’s not just Roy Jones Jr. voicing concerns about Dana White’s vision for boxing.
Even within the UFC, there are questions being raised. During a recent episode of his Good Guy/Bad Guy show on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel, Daniel Cormier spoke up about one part of White’s strategy.
“Dana White said he has plans to do a boxing version of the Contender Series in 2026,” Cormier said. “He said, ‘The best will fight the best, undefeated guys will fight undefeated guys, so I will build stars and I will put on great fights.’
“Does that work in boxing? … That, to me, sounds like he wants to change more. Because most boxers, especially the good ones, they don’t start seeing real competition until 18, 19, 20-0. Dana’s now saying, ‘I want these guys to fight each other and I want them to do it much sooner.’
“I don’t know, Chael (Sonnen). I don’t know if you can apply that to boxing,” Cormier continued. “Boxing is just different.”
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