Dana White drops major update on TKO boxing's debut event

Dana White recently dropped a major update on TKO boxing's debut event as he looks to take the sport by storm like he did with MMA. The new boxing league is shaping up to be a disrupter of sorts as they will be going against traditional norms with how they produce their events.

TKO Boxing will see White as the promoter and is in partnership with Turki Alalshikh, who has quickly earned a reputation for his ability to book fights. They recently made the media rounds to discuss their partnership and early vision for their league, but the UFC CEO has begun dropping more hints regarding their first event.

During his latest conversation with TNT Sports' Adam Catterall, White provided an update on when the TKO is targeting their debut boxing event. He mentioned that later this coming summer is the ideal timeline and confirmed that next year will have a full lineup of events:

"End of the summer... Yeah [this year]... Start goofing around a little bit at the end of the summer. Everything will go into full swing in [2026], but I'll be doing some stuff this year."

Check out Dana White's comments below (6:38):

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Dana White explains how he intends to fix boxing

During the aforementioned interview, Dana White mentioned that he plans to scout talent, put effort into matchmaking and pace shows to bring a similar element to the boxing that fans have been accustomed to with the UFC.

Here's what White said:

"When you think about the UFC, when we first bought the company, we had like, twelve contracts. Now there's almost a thousand. So, you literally built it from the ground up, you start finding young up-and-coming talent, matchmaking, putting on exciting live events, pacing the show the right way and obviously putting on a great television product. It's basically the same thing we do here [in the UFC], just in boxing." [7:03]

Check out Dana White and Turki Alalshikh discussing the creation of TKO boxing below: