According to a recent report, Saudi Arabia’s PIF, and the UFC could announce a boxing league as soon as this month.
It’s no secret that longtime UFC CEO Dana White has wanted to break into the boxing business. Having co-promoted Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor in August 2017, the promoter quickly announced plans for Zuffa Boxing. Almost eight years later, it appears that White’s vision could be coming to fruition.
Over the last few months, White has begun to tease a move into the boxing world. As the promoter for young prospect Callum Walsh, the UFC CEO has stated that he has no plans of stopping there. According to a recent report from the New York Times, White’s new business could involve Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Saudi Arabia, much like UFC President Dana White, has massive boxing ambitions. Led by Turki Alalshikh, the country has put up millions upon millions of dollars under the ‘Riyadh Season’ promotion to host events. Recent fights such as Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou, and Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury have all been held in Saudi.
According to the report from the New York Times, Saudi Arabia and TKO Group could announce a new professional boxing league in just weeks. As of now, it’s unknown exactly how the league would function, but it’s expected to target several young talents. The league would be owned by Sela, a subsidiary of the nation’s public investment fund.
The TKO Group would be a “managing partner”, and receive a share of revenue and a heavy equity stake in the league. The report added that White and company see the deal as a massive opportunity, given the fact that Saudi Arabia is footing the bill. As of now, neither the PIF nor UFC, have responded to the report.
For what it’s worth, there is no shortage of UFC fighters who want to box. Earlier this month, a report emerged about the company promoting a potential Conor McGregor vs. Logan Paul boxing match. While many cast doubt on the fight at first, today’s report makes that bout a serious possibility.
Bump
Gross
These guys have a fight, put on a podcast, then have another fight, then another podcast. The show will run like UFC does, fight after fight after fight,” he added before saying his team are currently looking to lock down broadcast deals.
“We will build the sport of boxing here in the United States again. To really grow the sport it has to be strong in the US for it to work anywhere.”
While White has a proven track record with mixed martial arts (MMA), it’s two completely different scenarios when it comes to boxing. White and the Fertitta brothers were able to mold the sport of MMA and UFC into the powerhouse it is today in their image because, let’s face it, it was a new sport on its last leg when they purchased it back in 2001.
Boxing, meanwhile, has been around since the 1920’s and is established. While White isn’t looking to re-invent the wheel, his goal is to put on fights that fans want to see. That said, there is a ton of competition out there with so many boxing promoters who have been doing this all their life such as Goldenboy, Matchroom Sport, Top Rank, Mayweather Promotions, Premier Boxing Championships and the list goes on and on.
And we don’t have to mention that they have all the big name talent at the moment.
So, unless White and Co. are open to co-promoting, something he is totally against in MMA, he has a very steep hill to climb if he ever wants to reach their level. Then again, if anyone can do it it’s White with the backing of Alalshikh’s deep pockets.
The fact that Saudi Arabia is involved makes this feel weird. I’ll take Zuffa boxing.
Former UFC fighter Al Iaquinta has weighed in on Dana White’s ambitious plan to restructure boxing into a unified league modeled after the UFC. White, the UFC president, announced in March 2025 a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and TKO Group Holdings to launch the new boxing league, with events expected to begin in late 2025.
White’s vision is to consolidate boxing’s multiple sanctioning bodies—such as the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO—into a single organization with one champion per division. During an appearance on ESPN’s First Take, he said that the sport lacks centralized promotion and that his plan could elevate undiscovered talent, much like the UFC did for mixed martial arts.
“There’s talent out there that nobody knows about. What I’d love to do is build this thing from the ground up, the way that we did the UFC … Get rid of the five different champions, five different sanctioning organizations—just one,” White said.
Al Iaquinta’s Skepticism
Iaquinta responded to White’s comments on X, expressing doubt that boxing could be monopolized the way the UFC took over MMA.
“Boxing can be improved but seems too established to be developed into a monopoly the way MMA was by the UFC,” Iaquinta wrote.
His skepticism highlights a major challenge in White’s plan. Unlike MMA in the early 2000s—where the UFC was able to buy out or outcompete smaller promotions—boxing has a deeply entrenched history, with multiple governing bodies, major promoters like Top Rank and Golden Boy, and lucrative fighter contracts.
Community Reactions and Criticism
Iaquinta’s viewpoint was echoed by other users on X, some of whom pointed out that boxers at the highest level earn significantly more than UFC fighters. Some critics in the discussion raised concerns about fighter pay, a longstanding issue in the UFC.
One user wrote, “Dana White is a slave driver. UFC was built on underpayment of fighters,” referencing ongoing criticism of White’s business model. Others suggested that young boxers might resist joining a new league if it meant lower earnings compared to stars like Canelo Alvarez or Tyson Fury.
Challenges Facing White’s Boxing League
Despite skepticism, White’s financial backing from Saudi Arabia provides him with significant resources to challenge boxing’s status quo. However, key obstacles remain, including resistance from existing promoters, legal barriers, and skepticism over fighter compensation.
Iaquinta’s response underscores the difficulty of transforming a century-old sport into a single-entity promotion. While White envisions a streamlined league that could elevate undiscovered talent, boxing’s longstanding structure makes such a shift highly complex.1
He’ll have to find up and coming boxers and make them stars
No way he can pay boxers what other star boxers make because then UFC fighters will throw a fit
Very curious how this all works out but either way I can’t stand watching boxing
In response, the UFC head honcho, known for his skepticism toward crossover events, swiftly shut down the notion. However, he did acknowledge that there are several MMA fighters within the organization who are eager to test their skills in the boxing ring.
“No, never,” White said. “I’m sure there are guys that want to box, but I literally don’t want to see any of that. We’ll keep the boxers in the boxing and the MMA guys in the MMA.”
Thank god. I’m so tired of seeing MMA fighters go over to boxing just to get beat up.