Dana White marked Zuffa Boxing’s third occasion by declaring that his new enterprise is “like beating up infants” on the subject of competing with established boxing promoters, doubling down on a plan to disregard conventional sanctioning our bodies and function on his personal phrases.
Zuffa Boxing
Zuffa Boxing 03 came about on February 15, 2026 on the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, headlined by heavyweight contender Efe Ajagba in opposition to former IBF champion Charles Martin on a Paramount+ broadcast that continued the promotion’s push into a number of worldwide markets.
White famous that Zuffa Boxing is already distributed in “18 territories the world over” on tv and Paramount in america, and mentioned the quantity has climbed shortly for the reason that promotion’s first two occasions. He instructed reporters he needs the boxing public to “decide us on our physique of labor” on the finish of the 12 months moderately than after three reveals.
Dana White: Beating up Infants
Through the Zuffa Boxing 03 publish‑combat press convention, White was requested what sort of resistance he had felt from conventional boxing institutions. “There hasn’t been any pushback,” he replied, earlier than including, “That is like beating up infants. I really feel like I got here in and I’m beating up infants. I anticipated extra. I anticipated some pushback. I anticipated them to be extra recreation. That is all method out of their league, like completely, positively out of their league. I’m really somewhat shocked.”
He framed his rivals’ response as timid and urged that established promoters have no idea compete with an built-in mannequin backed by TKO Group and the UFC’s occasion infrastructure.
White’s feedback got here after weeks of public again‑and‑forth with WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán and excessive‑profile promoters Eddie Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya, who’ve criticised each Zuffa’s customized championship belt and its choice to sidestep boxing’s 4 main sanctioning our bodies.
Hearn recently called the Zuffa belt “cringe,” whereas the WBC issued a proper response warning that White’s plan to ignore organisations just like the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF might isolate Zuffa’s fighters from recognised world titles. Sulaimán has additionally accused Zuffa Boxing of “bullying” its method into the game, a cost White has rejected whereas insisting that the Ali Act will stay intact and that fighters will maintain current authorized protections.
White insisted that he has not been attacking our bodies such because the WBC or IBF straight, however moderately selecting to bypass them. “All people is aware of that this factor’s been damaged for a very long time. I mentioned what I used to be going to do,” he mentioned.
“I’ve by no means mentioned something dangerous in regards to the WBC or the IBF or any of them. I simply mentioned I’m not going to do enterprise with them. I’m going to do my very own factor.” He argued that promoters like Hearn have turn out to be “a part of the issue” by staying in the identical lane, and contrasted that along with his declare that Zuffa Boxing intends to “change the whole sport” by constant matchmaking, centralised titles and lengthy‑time period funding in fighters.
On the identical time, White performed down fears that Zuffa Boxing goals to take over boxing or strip energy from established gamers, saying there may be house for various fashions to coexist. He maintained that promoters resembling Hearn and De La Hoya nonetheless have the assets to compete however lack “imaginative and prescient,” and repeated that his focus is on constructing occasions.
