Intrigue over who will feature for Zuffa Boxing since its founding has been prevalent. The possibility of elite boxers and crossover UFC stars occupying the same roster caught the attention of combat sports fans, but Dana White has shut it down.
For almost a decade, the UFC CEO has expressed interest in one day venturing into the world of boxing promotion, and in 2026, he finally achieved that goal. White hosted Zuffa Boxing 01, headlined by Callum Walsh and Carlos Ocampo, at the Meta Apex in Enterprise, Nevada. Hoping to get a taste of the new organization, several MMA fighters threw their name into the hat for a potential future outing in the ring.
Alex Pereira, Ilia Topuria, and Sean O’Malley were some of the big names announcing their interest in competing at a Zuffa Boxing show. While there would be much excitement for the UFC’s biggest stars to step into the squared circle, Dana White has dismissed the chances of it ever happening.
“One of the UFC guys fighting in Zuffa Boxing? No. No way in hell,” White said. “The crossover fights suck. No. That’s not what we do. It’s just not what we do. I want to see the best fighters in the world fight the best fighters in the world. I mean, I’d like to see Jai Opetaia fight [Oleksandr] Usyk.”
“There’s other networks and other people that do that sh*t. It’s not what I do. It’s just not what I do. I did it once. I did it once. I don’t know if it was amazing. It was financially unbelievable. But how many times can you keep fooling people with that? I run a business that every Saturday, basically, I put on fights, right? And we try to put on the best fights with the best fighters in the world. And you hope that the people that came to London, got hotel rooms, bought tickets, and spent all this money to come here, and the people who stayed home on a Saturday, got what they were hoping for. You hope you deliver.”
Seemingly not a fan of crossover bouts, Dana White is not being swayed by some fans’ wishes for big-name UFC fighters crossing over into the boxing world.
White believes having the UFC’s structure in his Zuffa Boxing promotion is a positive for the sport. One key factor in making his mixed martial arts company a success was the promise of making the best fighters in the world compete against each other, which he is committed to doing in boxing.
“What I hope to deliver on Saturdays is as many holy sh*t moments as possible, and you don’t get that from crossover fights,” White continued. “I don’t know. Educate me here, I’m drawing a blank. Tell me a crossover fight that you ever saw that you were like, ‘Wow, that was f***ing unbelievable, and I feel like I just saw the best fight the best.'”
“The fights that pull big numbers are the ones that involve Mike Tyson. Other than that, if it’s not Tyson, you know. You’re going to always have people that are willing to watch that, but it’s just not what I do… So what I’m into is the best versus the best, what’s at stake, what does this fight mean… That’s what matters to me…”
“So, if I took my biggest star in the UFC versus a big star in boxing, and they fight each other and it’s a lopsided, horrible fight that means nothing for either of them, what is the point and what’s the purpose? It’s just not what we do here.”