Not many details have come forth about how Dana White and Turki Alalshikh’s promotion will operate, but at least it has a name to go by, having been confirmed by White to be branded as ‘Zaffa Boxing’. Though the promotion was widely referred as TKO Boxing, due to the involvement of conglomerate TKO Group which already owns two major entertainment outlets in the UFC and WWE, the naming of the upcoming promotion finally signals the impending arrival of White and Alalshikh’s promotional venture which has yet to host its own event.
Mixed signals about what Zuffa Boxing actually is was prevalent in the ensuing weeks since the announcement of the joint partnership between Dana White and Turki Alalshikh.
Referred to as a league by Alalshikh in the media, White debunked the notion the promotion was set to become a league in an interview with boxing journalist Dan Rafael who noted the Muhammad Ali Act prevented such a format from being introduced in boxing.
Further mixed signals were sent when Dana White seemed to be hinting at intentions to monopolize boxing, whereas Turki Alalshikh seemed open to working together with other promotions and stakeholders in the sport.
Ultimately, it is still unclear what Zuffa Boxing is meant do in the sport after it was unveiled last month to be the official name of White’s promotion.
Zuffa, which means “brawl” or “fight” in Italian, is not a new name, having first been founded in 2001 by UFC’s former owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta to act as the UFC’s parent company. In 2016, it was sold to Endeavor ― then known as WWE-IMG, which is now the major shareholder of TKO Group ― which it further created in 2023.
On top of it all stands Ari Emmanuel, CEO of both Endeavor and TKO, with White serving as the most prominent figure to help corner the market of boxing.
Zuffa’s intentions still appear vague amidst an industry where boxing promotions often announce their plans boldly and proudly for the public to hear.
To start off with, no competition of any sort has yet been scheduled by the promotion, which is hardly a surprise given the company has yet to announce any signings.
At the same time, Zuffa appears quite keenly involved with the upcoming September 13th event set to be headlined by Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, at least in the sense it is actively promoting the show.
Potentially, Zuffa is even the promoter of the event, though this has not yet been officially confirmed.
But that still doesn’t clarify what Zuffa aiming to do with its own current non-existent roster.
Hints dropped by Alalshikh earlier this week points towards Zuffa’s involvement in the planned two- or three-day undercard that is planned for the September 13 card, with the fighters set to compete on those undercards potentially set to be revealed to be a part of Zuffa’s roster.
But with nothing yet confirmed, Zuffa remains a relatively vague and unestablished promotion that faces a gargantuan challenge if White’s alleged strategy to take over boxing are valid, due to Alalshikh’s recent venture with DAZN to no longer host PPV shows starting November ― a model White has heavily implemented throughout his tenure as the UFC’s chairman.
