The ongoing dispute surrounding Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury has now spilled into a promotional feud between Dana White and Eddie Hearn. And after a recent exchange between White and a boxing journalist on the matter, another issue has entered the conversation: how willing MMA media is to challenge someone like White.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
At the post-fight press conference following Zuffa Boxing 11 this past weekend, boxing journalist Jack Figg pressed White about his reported role in the upcoming Joshua-Fury fight. The UFC CEO eventually grew frustrated with the line of questioning, leading Figg to reflect on what he sees as a wider problem with the way White is questioned by the UFC press.
“Our back and forth, which lasted two minutes but felt like two hours, ended with Dana asking if I had ‘any other questions that are relevant to this evening or anything else?’ I didn’t,” Figg wrote in The Sun. “And neither did any of my other media comrades, who also refused to let Dana off the hook with questions about his confusing and unclear role in the fight.
“My heated section of the presser did the rounds on social media afterwards and saw me receive rare praise for actually standing up to Dana. In reality, the work was neither that impressive or earth-shattering, the bar is just extremely low when it comes to honest and pressing dialogue with Dana.”
Figg then went on to argue that UFC press conferences are often filled with questions about the promotion’s success rather than tough questions for White.
“He seems to get off the hook all too easily in his UFC bubble, where media seem too fearful of losing access to ever dare stand up to the 57-year-old pal of Donald Trump,” Figg continued. “Softballs about how great the UFC are doing and how ‘EXCITED’ they are to return to a certain state or city usually fill up the mind-numbing pressers.”
The boxing journalist then suggested that this could be because the majority of the UFC press corps is in all likelihood afraid of “being barred” or “losing their credentials.”
“The fear among the UFC press pack to ask Dana anything close to a tough question leaves the promoter too used to an easy ride,” Figg argued. “Coming over to London, our turf in front of our gang, is a different story. Not being comfortable or able to control what was coming his way and vitally what was coming back—as he never usually gets follow-ups—left Dana clearly flustered.”
Jack Figg’s comments came after his exchange with White at Zuffa Boxing 11 went viral online, where he asked the UFC CEO about his role in Joshua vs. Fury, despite not being promotionally attached to either boxing star.
The question stemmed from a statement made by Max Kellerman during the broadcast. Kellerman suggested that White could serve as an adviser to Turki Alalshikh rather than as a promoter for the fight. White later rejected the characterization and said he had no clue “where that came from.”
Figg then reminded Dana White about his historical stance of never messing with any fighter already under contract with someone else and how it would change in the context of the AJ-Fury bout. This pretty much has been Eddie Hearn‘s position that White and Zuffa cannot have a promotional role in AJ-Fury because of contractual obligations of either fighter.
White, however, dismissed the line of questioning. But Figg continued pressing him on whether Alalshikh ultimately had the final say in the matter.
The exchange became increasingly tense, with White questioning Figg’s knowledge of the sport before telling him to ask something relevant.
The tussle became one of the biggest talking points from the Zuffa Boxing event. It also brought attention to the culture of media and reporting in the UFC, which now appears to be extending to Zuffa.
And it isn’t the first time questions about Dana White’s relationship with the media have surfaced.
Months before the latest exchange, even Eddie Hearn had criticized the UFC media over its approach to White.
During their increasingly public back-and-forth, Hearn questioned why journalists were not pressing White more aggressively about issues including Jon Jones’ appearance on the White House card in July and Zuffa’s signing of his fighter Conor Benn for a whopping $15 million—an amount considerably higher than that made by most big UFC stars.
Another notable example came in September 2025, when White clashed with boxing journalist Sean Zittel at the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford press conference.
Zittel had questioned Dana White about the proposed Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act and whether Zuffa would continue investing in boxing if the legislation did not pass. White initially told him that the subject should be discussed in a separate interview rather than at a press conference focused on Canelo and Crawford. When Zittel continued with his questions, the exchange became heated, with White accusing the journalist of trying to “showboat” and eventually telling him to “beat it.”
The latest exchange with Figg therefore adds another example to a history that has already included confrontations between White and members of the boxing media. But as Figg pointed out, the same is not the case with those primarily covering UFC.
In his article, Figg himself brought up Dana White’s well-known dispute with prominent MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.
In 2016, Helwani was temporarily excluded from UFC events after reporting the news of Brock Lesnar’s return to the promotion before UFC 200, although his credentials were later restored. Other journalists, including Josh Gross and Loretta Hunt, have also had public disputes or access-related issues with the UFC over the years.
Incidents like these are what make the issue difficult to simply dismiss.
Still, Figg’s argument about UFC reporters being afraid to challenge Dana White remains his characterization of the media environment rather than an established fact about every journalist covering the promotion.
Regardless of what could be the reason—if at all it is—it appears the boxing reporters, especially those outside the US may be less willing to let a contentious answer end the conversation.