Dana White to launch Zuffa Boxing in October

UFC President Dana White has been teasing a move into the boxing industry for years. From the sounds of it, the time is finally upon us.

According to a report from Mike Coppinger of The Athletic Boxing, White recently made an important executive hire for Zuffa Boxing — though it’s not clear who he hired.

Sources tell @TheAthleticBOX Dana White has hired a person to run his boxing division (unofficially referred to as Zuffa Boxing) as UFC president looks to enter the space. It’s unknown who the hire is, but person will be tasked with helping Dana make boxing venture a major player

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) July 24, 2019

“Sources tell @TheAthleticBOX Dana White has hired a person to run his boxing division (unofficially referred to as Zuffa Boxing) as UFC president looks to enter the space. It’s unknown who the hire is, but person will be tasked with helping Dana make boxing venture a major player” – Mike Coppinger on Twitter

Shaun Al-Shatti, a writer for The Athletic MMA, then followed up with Dana White. White explained that the targeted timeframe for Zuffa Boxing’s launch is October.

Asked Dana White about this today. He confirmed a key hire has been made and said he's targeting October for the launch of Zuffa Boxing. He wouldn't attach a name to the hire, but I asked if it was someone boxing fans would be very familiar with: "I don't think so. No." https://t.co/1sXnpquhXd

— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) July 25, 2019

“Asked Dana White about this today. He confirmed a key hire has been made and said he’s targeting October for the launch of Zuffa Boxing. He wouldn’t attach a name to the hire, but I asked if it was someone boxing fans would be very familiar with: ‘I don’t think so. No.'” – Shaun Al-Shatti on Twitter.

White confirmed these reports from Coppinger and Al-Shatti in an interview with MMA Junkie. 

“I’m hoping October,” White said. “[The new hire] be sitting in his office in October. I’m building his office right now. It’ll be done soon, and hopefully he’ll be sitting at it in October.”

With Zuffa Boxing, Dana White plans to completely revamp the boxing industry.

“I’m going to break the model and rebuild it,” he claimed. “The model is broken, we all know it. Everybody knows it. You don’t have to be a (expletive) rocket scientist to figure that out. The model is broken, it needs to be fixed, and we’ll see if I’m the guy to do it.

“Listen, I told you guys a year ago, however long ago it was – two years, I don’t remember – but I’m getting into boxing,” White said. “I needed to take my time, do my homework. I’ve met with literally everybody who’s anybody out there. There’s still a couple more coming. I got a meeting with a couple of English guys and we’ve pretty much talked to and met with everybody. Everybody wants to work with us. Everybody wants to be a part of it, everybody was more excited and open minded than I expected, and I’m feeling pretty optimistic.”

Do you think Dana White will be successful with Zuffa Boxing?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/25/2019.