Dana White confirms ‘big announcement’ as UFC boss plots sensational move
Dana White has confirmed that plans are afoot for him to move into the world of boxing.
The UFC president and CEO has transformed the mixed martial arts organisation into one of the most popular in world sport.
White has been heavily linked with stepping into boxing over the years, however nothing concrete has looked likely to materialise until now.
Speaking ahead of the boxing match between Callum Walsh and Poland’s Przemyslaw Runowski, White hinted at his plans.
“There will be some big announcements,” White said.
“If you know anything about me and you go back and look at anything I ever said – I never say anything that I don’t do, ever. I’ve never said.
“We’ve been kicking the boxing thing around for a long time and you’ve never heard me commit and say, ‘I’m in’.
“I’m in.”
It’s not the first time that White has spoken about a move into boxing, however his comments in 2022 suggested that a move was not that appealing.
He said: “Every time I try to think about doing something with boxing, I go, ‘Why would I want to do this to myself?’
“You know what I mean? Why would I even want to dive into this nightmare?”
White even described boxing as ‘a broken business’ and said it would ‘be an absolute nightmare to try and fix’.
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White has never been formally involved in boxing, however, he was part of the superfight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
The UFC chief has also used the UFC’s social media accounts along with his own to promote the efforts of Irish boxer Walsh, despite not being his official promoter.
Walsh boasts a record of 11 wins, nine knockouts and no losses going into his fight with Runowski and appears to be White’s foot in the door into boxing.
Speaking to Morning Kombat about his relationship with White, Walsh said: “When I first signed with Tom Loeffler [Walsh’s promoter] he was working on a deal with UFC fight pass to put boxing on fight pass.
“Obviously then Tom signed a young Irish fighter and Dana had a history with another Irish fighter (Conor McGregor) so he thought it would make sense for me to go down and meet Dana.
“I showed him some of my footage and told him what I wanted to do and the more and more he’s seen my fight he likes me and now he’s helping me with my career.”