UFC President Dana White shut down talking points that fighters make life-changing money by transitioning to boxing from MMA.
Specifically, White said it was “not necessarily true” that MMA fighter turned boxer Francis Ngannou made more money in two boxing matches than he would have ever made in the UFC or other promotions.
Sports Illustrated reported that Ngannou made $10 million off a boxing match against Tyson Fury in 2023, while he reportedly made another $20 million from fighting Anthony Joshua in 2024, according to Forbes.
‘Boxing doesn’t f***ing work … it takes a f***ing Saudi trillionaire to make boxing work.’
Reporter Kevin Iole posited that Ngannou banked more in boxing than he ever could in MMA.
“That’s not necessarily true,” White told Iole on his podcast. “It’s not really true. That’s the bulls*** that the public believes, but that’s not the truth. Total bulls***. That’s that whole myth that makes everyone go, ‘Ahh, let’s f***ing go to boxing.’ It’s f***ing bulls***. Boxing don’t work,” White exclaimed.
Iole, who said he wasn’t a fan of crossover events such as Ngannou’s, or even fights featuring former YouTuber Jake Paul, asked White why he feels boxing doesn’t tend to work out financially for promoters.
“What makes it work?!” White asked rhetorically. “Boxing doesn’t f***ing work … it takes a f***ing Saudi trillionaire to make boxing work.”
The UFC boss said he believes that most boxing promotions benefit from massive financial backing from figures with seemingly “unlimited” checkbooks; however the financial backers eventually get tired of the failing model and pull out.
“Even Saudi trillionaires get tired of f***ing bulls***. It’s all a myth,” White said. “The whole thing you said to me is absolutely not true, it’s those type of statements and those type of quotes by the media … all the people that are trying the boxing thing, they all end up losing s***loads of money.”
“The model doesn’t work,” he added.
At the same time, White recently announced yet again that he is ready to venture into the world of boxing himself, after first indicating he was interested in promoting it in 2017.
He again flirted with the idea in 2019 when he allegedly made key hires in regards to creating a boxing promotion and was hoping to have it running by that October.
“Am I f***ing crazy?! Why do I even think about doing this?!” White said to Iole.
When asked if he thought he had to revamp the payroll structure to make boxing successful, White claimed, “It has to be.”
The 55-year-old insisted that the model has already proven to be broken.
White’s proposed organization would be called Zuffa Boxing and operate out of the same facilities as the UFC and Power Slap in Las Vegas.
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Fearless, Dana white, Boxing, Mma, Ufc, Sports