{"id":309718,"date":"2025-12-10T22:58:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T22:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/309718\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T22:58:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T22:58:13","slug":"dana-whites-date-for-first-boxing-show-emerges-as-ufc-chief-plans-bumper-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/309718\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana White&#8217;s date for first boxing show emerges as UFC chief plans bumper schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first of Dana White&#8217;s Zuffa Boxing events is being planned for January 2026.<\/p>\n<p>White has established himself as one of the biggest figures on the mixed martial arts scene since becoming <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/ufc\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">UFC<\/a> president in 2001.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"UFC CEO Dana White is seen on stage during the UFC 300 press conference at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/crop-3077030.jpg\" data-caption=\"White has opened the door to a new venture in boxing, finally fulfilling his promise to step into squared circle promotion\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/crop-3077030.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>White has opened the door to a new venture in boxing, finally fulfilling his promise to step into squared circle promotionCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>Having reaped success in the UFC, White announced that he wanted to venture into another area of combat sports.<\/p>\n<p>In March, White&#8217;s TKO Group Holdings signed a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/boxing\/2988825\/dana-white-turki-alalshikh-new-boxing-promotion-ufc\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">multi-year partnership<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/boxing\/3002984\/dana-white-boxing-league-turki-alalshikh\/#:~:text=Dana%20White%20is%20aiming%20to,not%20going%20to%20do%20that.%22\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">to establish a boxing league<\/a> with the financial backing of Turki Alalshikh.<\/p>\n<p>In their first collaboration, White teamed up with Alalshikh as a co-promoter for <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/canelo-alvarez\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Canelo Alvarez<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/terence-crawford\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Terence Crawford<\/a>&#8216;s superfight in September.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Zuffa Boxing&#8217;s debut event is being scheduled as a precursor for White&#8217;s stacked schedule under the new <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/mma\/3462777\/dana-white-new-historic-ufc-broadcast-deal\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount and CBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE BOXING<\/p>\n<p>TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro revealed: \u201cWe are planning to launch our first fight on January 23, which is the night before our first UFC fight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo back to back nights, big weekend for TKO to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As it stands, the card and venue have yet to be announced, but White certainly has <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/boxing\/3002984\/dana-white-boxing-league-turki-alalshikh\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ambitious plans to shake up the sport<\/a> as we know it.<\/p>\n<p>Zuffa Boxing&#8217;s maiden foray into the sport will take place just one day before UFC 324, topped by <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/mma\/3776546\/justin-gaethje-vs-paddy-pimblett-ufc-324-time-date\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Gaethje&#8217;s clash with Paddy Pimblett<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It will be one of 12 cards that have already been confirmed to take place in 2026 under the new Zuffa Boxing banner.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/boxing\/3200310\/dana-white-boxing-schedule-canelo-crawford\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">planned schedule<\/a> will also likely feature up to four targeted mega-fight shows per year.<\/p>\n<p>What do we know about Dana White&#8217;s plans for Zuffa Boxing?<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: (L-R) Jon Anik, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, and UFC CEO Dana White are seen on the broadcast during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)\" height=\"638\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"GETTY\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2158780196-1.jpg\" data-caption=\"With Alalshikh's financial backing White is confident he can dominate the boxing world\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2158780196-1.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>With Alalshikh&#8217;s financial backing White is confident he can dominate the boxing worldCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n<p>White has not refrained from revealing grand ideas for his new project, from changing the rules to scrapping the traditional layout.<\/p>\n<p>In September, he told CBS Sports: &#8220;We&#8217;re going to start from the ground up.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are already working on a new design for the ring.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That meeting was yesterday, too. We had a huge design meeting for a new boxing ring.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>His master plan is to make Zuffa Boxing the leading promotion in the sport, similar to what he accomplished with the UFC in <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/mma\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MMA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Although his revolutionary ideas aren&#8217;t exactly being welcomed by the traditional boxing hierarchy, as he looks to disrupt rules and ideas.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Hearn has helped build the Matchroom Boxing branch under his father Barry Hearn\" height=\"654\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/eddie-hearn-chairman-matchroom-sport-989545539.jpg\" data-caption=\"Hearn has helped build the Matchroom Boxing branch under his father Barry Hearn\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/eddie-hearn-chairman-matchroom-sport-989545539.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Hearn has helped build the Matchroom Boxing branch under his father Barry HearnCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>Matchroom Boxing&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/eddie-hearn\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eddie Hearn<\/a>, for one, is <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/boxing\/3548110\/dana-white-eddie-hearn-challenge-boxing-league-ufc\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wary of White&#8217;s decision <\/a>to emerge into the sport.<\/p>\n<p>He told The Stomping Ground: \u201cCompetition\u2019s fantastic, but you\u2019re not going to come into boxing and steamroll the game. It\u2019s not going to happen. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But we can get on, we can work together, but ultimately, it depends how they\u2019re gonna manoeuvre.<\/p>\n<p>Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody is a competitor to us in the sport, but a lot of those competitors are friends and a lot of those competitors we work with for the benefit of our business, our fighters and the sport and that hopefully will be the same with Dana, but let\u2019s see how it plays out\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the reception from other promoters, Zuffa Boxing is currently building its roster of fighters for what&#8217;s anticipated to be an exciting inaugural event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first of Dana White&#8217;s Zuffa Boxing events is being planned for January 2026. White has established himself&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,6102,9554,21762,6572,101,9553,15969,715,56,54,55,44291],"class_list":{"0":"post-309718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-boxing-news","10":"tag-canelo-alvarez","11":"tag-dana-white","12":"tag-eddie-hearn","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-terence-crawford","15":"tag-turki-alalshikh","16":"tag-ufc","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-unitedkingdom","20":"tag-zuffa-boxing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}