It’s 2026, and Dana White has finally entered boxing fully. The idea of Zuffa Boxing was first teased during the promotional tour of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight in 2017. And who knew nine years later, it would become a reality. While the move seems exciting, even White’s strategy to exploit the market looks the same.

Since Zuffa Boxing is new in the market, currently, there aren’t many renowned boxers signed. But given the UFC CEO’s reputation in the market, the likes of Jai Opetaia and Conor Benn have already joined his venture. Interestingly, that seems like only a start, as White is seemingly interested in competing aggressively against the rivals. And for that, he is ready to go guns blazing!

White on potential Zuffa Boxing signings

“I’m going to sign everybody that we think has the potential to be a world champion,” said Dana White during Zuffa Boxing 04 presser. “Or that is potentially the best in the world… (When asked about Oleksandr Usyk and Shakur Stevenson) I’m going to f–king sign everybody. Everybody, and we’re gonna end up doing more fights this year.”

Zuffa Boxing officially launched with its debut event on Jan 23, 2026, at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The vision is to have a unique league structure similar to the UFC, where boxers will gradually go up the ranks and fight for the title.

But amid that, the plan is, of course, to beat the veteran boxing promoters as well. Surely, Opetaia is a good long term investment as one of the standout fighters representing the promotion. He is currently akin to how Anthony Joshua represents Matchroom Boxing, Ryan Garcia represents Golden Boy Promotions, and Tyson Fury represents Queensberry Promotions.

The boxing community has seen these fighters elevate their stature along with their promotions. So, when it comes to Zuffa Boxing, even though Dana White signed Opetaia, he is not overlooking the possibility of more big names.

To that end, the promotion was recently rumored to be in talks with Oleksandr Usyk. If a fighter of Usyk’s stature signs with Zuffa Boxing, it would surely make a good addition to the roster. However, the Ukrainian boxing champion’s team later clarified the speculations as false.

But if this signing somehow actually comes into fruition, it would just boost White’s confidence. Given that, his current goal is to revolutionize the boxing world through a takeover. If that happens, where does it leave other boxing promoters? According to the UFC CEO, they are already struggling to keep up with Zuffa Boxing’s pace.

Dana White goes off at boxing rivals

The moment Dana White entered the boxing world in collaboration with Turki Alalshikh, the already-established promoters weren’t quite welcoming. With Zuffa Boxing’s signings taking place, the bitterness grew. However, White seems quite unfazed by those antics, as he taunts about the current stature of other veteran boxing promoters.

“This has been such a joke coming into this business,” said White during the aforementioned press conference. “And these people are so unsophisticated and so bad at what they do. We might actually be doing 44 fights this year, just like the UFC. You’re asking me about Bob Arum. Bob Arum has been in the business for f–king 50 years. He put one fight on this year. He doesn’t have a TV deal…

De La Hoya? Don’t even get me f–king started on that guy, right? PBC hasn’t put a fight on. I haven’t seen or heard anything from Al Haymon. I heard he’s sick, and then you know. Eddie Hearn is a manager now, my rival Eddie Hearn, holy sh*t. Who else? I mean, who? I’m? Four fights in guys are f–king terrible, have a good night.”

White’s assessment of Bob Arum isn’t out of the blue. It is backed by facts, where Top Rank’s media rights deal with ESPN ended this past July. And Arum is yet to secure a new network deal as a replacement. Meanwhile, Al Haymon’s PBC hasn’t put out consistent fight events.

As for Golden Boy Promotion’s Oscar De La Hoya and Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, they engaged in a constant back-and-forth with White, which spoiled their respective relationships with him.

That said, do you think White’s Zuffa Boxing will be able to take over after signing every standout boxer? Let us know in the comments below!