As the newest marquee signee of Zuffa Boxing, Shakur Stevenson joined the A-listers who made an appearance at UFC 329, headlined by Conor McGregor and Max Holloway, last Saturday. Sitting cageside, as the camera zoomed in on him, the four-division boxing champion happily obliged by throwing a few punches in the air.

Yet, amid that atmosphere of excitement, a goof-up surfaced. While the names of all the celebrities who were at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night, including Mike Tyson, were displayed correctly, a major mistake unfolded in the boxing champion’s case. As cameras focused on Stevenson, the on-screen graphic mistakenly identified him as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams. The blunder quickly became a topic of discussion online and later saw Dana White angrily calling out his own production team for the error. When Ariel Helwani raised the issue during their latest interview, Shakur Stevenson offered a scathing critique.

“Man, that was some crazy sh-t. That was some crazy sh-t. I didn’t understand that,” Stevenson declared. “I mean, I don’t know, I don’t know whoever is behind the production. I think Dana is right. They need to be fired, and somebody needs to talk to them, because I don’t even understand how y’all even get me mixed up with Jalen Williams. We don’t look nothing alike.

“I don’t care. That sh-t don’t do nothing for me. I mean, at the end of the day, when I go in there on fight night, ain’t nobody gonna mistake me for nobody. They gon see me for who I am, and that’s what I really care about the most.”

It’s difficult to understand why the UFC’s production team made the mistake in identifying one of the biggest names in modern boxing. A silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics, Shakur Stevenson has been active professionally since 2017. The period has seen him reach considerable heights by becoming a world champion in four weight classes.

Viewed by many as a first-ballot Hall of Famer already, Stevenson’s resume remains one of the hardest to ignore in the combat sports world. So why would the UFC production team mistake him for Jalen Williams, who is a 6’5, 200 lbs giant who rocks braids? In comparison, Shakur Stevenson is 5’8, barely 150 lbs, and sports a camp haircut. The difference between the two is as wide as can be.

More significantly, there are promotional implications. It’s been just a few days since Stevenson officially joined Dana White’s new Zuffa Boxing. While the promotion already has a few prominent names on its roster, Stevenson remains the biggest figure the company has recruited so far.

Considering that business angle, talks about Stevenson entering a marquee fight under the Zuffa banner have already been circulating, including a potential matchup against Devin Haney. So, showcasing his name erroneously is not something that, at least the central figures involved, would appreciate.

Understanding the seriousness of the matter, Dana White addressed it during the post-fight press conference of UFC 329 before the reporters could even ask any questions.

“I just paid Shakur Stevenson a sh-tload of money, and for some reason we can’t figure this celebrity sh-t out,” White said. “They put him up as a f–king OKC NBA player. Are you f–king kidding me? I mean, it’s just absolutely crazy. We are the absolute worst to ever do the celebrity thing. When we put celebrities up, we are the worst.

“I just had this f–king debate in the back with my guys while I was screaming at everybody back there, and they said, ‘No, soccer’s worse.’ Soccer shows the people, and they don’t put up any graphics. ‘Oh no. We put up f–king graphics and put the wrong guy’s name on it! We win. We’re the worst ever to f–king do it.”

As the clips of White’s comments spread rapidly online, Stevenson echoed the sentiments by writing, “Yea, Dana 😂🔥 #FireTheyA–.”

As Helwani pointed out during the discussion, this is not the first time the UFC’s production team has made such a mistake.

Shakur Stevenson wasn’t the first star caught in a production mishap

Making the matter even more interesting, the most notable example involves another boxing icon. Two years ago, as UFC 306, headlined by Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili, unfolded at The Sphere in Las Vegas, the production team reportedly mistook the now-retired Terence Crawford, who was coming off a dominant win over Israil Madrimov and is also a mentor to Stevenson, for award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar.

For the record, in Stevenson’s case, the team later rectified the mistake and displayed his name correctly, a point Helwani also highlighted. But in Crawford’s case, he remained identified as Kendrick Lamar.

Also, in fairness, in the sporting world, they are not the only ones to have committed such an error.

Fans should remember how, a decade ago, a Japanese welcoming team allegedly misidentified soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo for a Brazilian player, most likely being Ronaldo Nazário, and organized samba music and carnival dancing. Videos of the incident showing Ronaldo looking visibly confused gained considerable traction at the time.

At this point, it is difficult to gauge whether the UFC has genuinely taken any action regarding the production team’s goof-up or simply let it slide with a warning.

Perhaps it’s better to leave the incident behind and look ahead. One of the key figures in the story, Jalen Williams himself, took the issue lightly by writing, “Ehh, close enough…” on his Instagram story. What matters more now is who Shakur Stevenson fights next for his first bout under Zuffa.