TKO CEO shares significant update on Dana White potentially venturing into boxing promotion: "A lot of wood needs to be chopped there"

Ari Emanuel recently provided a major update on Dana White’s possible move into boxing promotion down the line. For years, White has expressed interest in stepping into the boxing world, often stating his intent to overhaul what he sees as a fractured sport.

While the UFC CEO's plans have yet to materialize, that could soon change, with Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh potentially playing a pivotal role in turning TKO Boxing into a reality.

During a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Emanuel was asked about his company's interest in exploring new ventures. The Endeavor and TKO CEO revealed that TKO, the conglomerate overseeing both WWE and the UFC, has initiated a serious exploration into expanding into the world of boxing under White’s leadership:

"We’re starting to talk about boxing. We’re kind of looking at that right now. I think you’ve got the Ali Act that hurt it. Hopefully, who knows what’s going to happen with the Ali Act. And then Dana has a plan for boxing. We’ll see... There’s a lot of work. A lot of wood that’s got to be chopped there, but we’re looking at it pretty seriously."

Check out Ari Emanuel's comments below (48:30):

The Ali Act is a law designed to safeguard boxers by enforcing key protections, including requiring promoters to disclose revenue to fighters, restricting the length of fighter contracts, and ensuring that title belts and rankings remain independent of promoters.

However, the legislation does not currently apply to MMA fighters, and the UFC has actively worked to prevent its expansion, as its implementation would drastically reshape the promotion’s business model.

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When Dana White reflected on Zuffa Boxing’s 2017 collapse and why landscape has shifted

Dana White fully committed to pushing Zuffa Boxing, going as far as producing branded T-shirts for the spin-off venture from the UFC’s former parent company. His promotional efforts seemed to ramp up ahead of the crossover boxing match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather in August 2017, but it ultimately faded.

During a press conference in September 2024, White disclosed that in 2017, he had engaged in talks with prominent boxers such as Anthony Joshua but stressed that everything unfolds in its own time.

The UFC CEO further discussed his intention to introduce a range of unconventional elements into his potential boxing venture, elements that have yet to be attempted by anyone else:

"There’s a million reasons why now is [the time]. If you notice, as far as boxing, even as much money as Sheikh Turki [Turki Alalshikh] is throwing into this thing, television deals aren’t really abundant right now. There are just a lot of things I think I can do that other people haven’t done yet."

Check out Dana White's comments below (9:48):