Dana White, UFC CEO, shared plans to launch a new boxing promotion in 2026 during an interview with Vegas PBS. The show will follow the format of Dana White’s Contender Series, matching undefeated fighters to create stars and ensure every fight matters, from the opener to the main event. White aims to rebuild boxing by reinvesting in the sport and challenging promoters like Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren.
Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford first fight week face off 🔥
— Boxing Kingdom (@BoxingKingdom14) September 9, 2025
White’s Plan to Revamp Boxing
White explained the approach, saying:
“Basically, in 2026, I’m going to start my show, and what I’m going to do is basically like Contender Series. The best will fight the best, undefeated guys will fight undefeated guys, and what you will do is you will care about the first fight of the night, and not just the main event. So I will build stars, put on great fights, and then these guys will graduate and fight with Sheik Turki.”
He compared it to UFC’s success, stating:
“What we did with the UFC is turn the UFC into an NFL, an NBA. There’s a league, you reinvest into the sport, and other people want to invest in the sport, whether it’s sponsors or any of these financial firms, whatever it may be. That’s what needs to be done with boxing, too, and that’s what I’m going to attempt to do.”
White described boxing’s issues, adding:
“Listen, there’s no ego or arrogance when I talk about getting into boxing and trying to ‘fix it.’ This is a busted sport.”
Backed by Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and Turki Alalshikh under TKO Group Holdings, the promotion has 60 to 70 fighters signed as of September 2025. White plans to share more details in early 2026, saying:
“Right now we probably have between 60 and 70 fighters under contract. I think that the great thing about it is there’s a lot of options. Eddie Hearn is a great promoter. He’s very successful and, in my opinion, he’s a good guy. I like him very much. You’ve got Frank Warren out in the UK, who is very successful and does well. There’s options, and we’re all going to have to compete, and we’re all going to have to try to be better than the other guy to get the best talent. I compete with the NFL, I compete with the NBA, I compete with big movie studios. Whatever takes your attention on Saturday night is my competition. So, as I get into boxing, it’s a totally different world from MMA. I’ve been doing this for 25 years. 26 is going to be my first year in [boxing], so I will definitely be competing with the Eddie Hearns and the Frank Warrens of the world, but I look forward to it.”
The promotion debuted with the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight on September 13, 2025, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, streamed on Netflix. It will host two to three major fights yearly, with signed fighters on undercards.
Dana White grew up in Las Vegas and worked as a hotel manager before entering MMA. He managed Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz in the 1990s and became UFC president in 2001 after Zuffa LLC bought the promotion for $2 million. Under White, UFC grew into a billion-dollar company, sold to WME-IMG in 2016 for $4 billion.
