Zuffa Boxing
Dana White Talks Jai Opetaia, Zuffa Boxing Expansion + More
Dana White Fielded Questions From The Media At The Zuffa Boxing 04 Post-Fight Press Conference In Las Vegas, Nevada
There was plenty to discuss when UFC President and CEO Dana White arrived on the dais at the Zuffa Boxing 04 post-fight press conference.
Hailing Opetaia’s skills, Glanton’s toughness
“Absolute clinic, (Opetaia) looked incredible,” said White.
“I was just telling the guys, I can't remember the last time I got sprayed with sweat and blood – (it happened) three times tonight, those guys were going at it, and much respect.
“The shots (Glanton) took, I went in there and told him, ‘You know how we are with this kind of stuff. We're sending you straight to the hospital.’ And he's fighting with me. They didn't want to go, and hopefully I talked his corner into making him go to the hospital. But that shit freaks me out.”
Zuffa Boxing continues to grow its international footprint
White mentioned the continued growth of the Zuffa Boxing brand internationally, as the organization added more international TV deals to take their reach to 88 countries.
“I think we're gonna get better every single fight. We now have 22 television deals in 88 countries,” he said.
RECAP: Winners, Interviews & Scorecards From Zuffa Boxing 04
“So every time I come back in front of you and do another press conference, we have more countries, we have more TV deals. And when you think about for these fighters to be able to get the exposure that they're going to get under Zuffa Boxing, it's just we're four fights in, and we're second to literally none.”
Meta APEX is expanding, too…
The Meta APEX was rocking for the main event, as a raucous crowd cheered Opetaia to victory. White said the purpose built venue will soon be expanded to accommodate more spectators, while other aspects of the Las Vegas facility are receiving significant upgrades at the same time.
Those changes, White said, will be a gamechanger for the venue as they look to take the facility to the next level.
“The expansion will be done here,” said White.
“I mean, have you guys seen the bathrooms? We had porta-potties here, like eight months ago. The bathrooms look like you're at Red Rock now! The food, we have a real ticket box office outside, expanded the parking, and the total expansion should be done around May.
Jai Opetaia Ring Interview | Zuffa Boxing 04
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Jai Opetaia Ring Interview | Zuffa Boxing 04
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"When you walk in that front area, where we did the press conferences, that's all going to get blown out, and that'll be more seats. We're putting another skybox up top. So there'll be 1,100 to 1,300 people in here when we're done with the expansion.”
And, while the Meta APEX will soon be a bigger, even more impressive facility by the start of the summer, White said the organization won’t limit itself to fight nights at their Vegas headquarters.
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“We have some announcements coming out about Zuffa Boxing, and we will be traveling around and doing things this year,” he teased, before revealing later in the press conference that they already have some key markets targeted for this year.
“We're talking about going everywhere,” he said.
“We'll be in the UK, we're going to do fights in Australia (and) Mexico.”
Further thoughts on the boxing establishment
White was asked about Eddie Hearn becoming a commercial representative for UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, and what he thought about having a rival promoter working with one of his champions.
“Is he a rival promoter?” I haven't seen a ‘rival anything’ from Eddie Hearn or any of these other guys. He's a manager now, who gives a s***?
“We deal with lots of different people. I wouldn't call Eddie Hearn a ‘rival’ anything. There's a million of them, and we deal with them all. And you know, have you ever heard of us having problems with dealing with a manager?”
White continued, as he responded to the pushback he’s received.
“I was expecting a lot more from boxing, period, than what I've seen,” he said
“Listen, this sport is broken for a reason. Everybody is a bunch of rinky-dink… I mean, it's the most rinky-dink thing that I have ever seen in my life. I don't know why I expected more from any of these people, but boy, let me tell you what. S***’s about to get good.”
How Zuffa Boxing plans to handle sanctioning bodies moving forward
The events of the past week aside, White said he will do his best for the fighters he signs, including those established top stars who are chasing undisputed status, like Opetaia.
“Before I ever got into the game, these kids had goals and dreams and ambitions that things they wanted to accomplish in boxing, and we want to help them with that. We don't want to hurt anybody – we want to help them. And obviously, if it meant working with sanctioning organizations – Jai wanted to do this. He paid his sanctioning fee…we did everything that you're supposed to do. So, we'll see how it plays out. It’ll be on a on a case-by-case basis.”
White says Zuffa Boxing could sign more big names, expand to UFC-sized schedule
When asked about potential big-name targets for Zuffa Boxing in the coming weeks and months, White said that he’s keen on signing any and every top fighter that becomes available.
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“I’m gonna sign everybody that we think has the potential to be a world champion or that is potentially the best in the world,” he explained.
“I’m going to sign everybody, everybody, and we're gonna end up doing more fights this year. This year, this has been such a joke coming into this business, and these people are so unsophisticated and so bad at what they do, we might actually be doing 44 fights this year, just like the UFC.”
How Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje came together late for White House headliner
There was mystery over a fight that was planned for the UFC’s upcoming event at the White House, as the fans debated online what could potentially have been the matchup that fell through.
White wouldn’t be drawn on that topic, but he did reveal that the announced main event between lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and interim champion Justin Gaethje came together late in the week before it was officially announced during UFC 326 on Saturday night.
“I told you there were some weird circumstances (about the withdrawn fight),” said White.
“It wasn't up on stage with Mick (Maynard), Hunter (Campbell) and Sean (Shelby), it was at Power Slap that the fight fell apart that night. And then all the boys went back to the office, and literally were there till nine in the morning. And that's how Gaethje ended up on the card. And Topuria wasn’t originally supposed to be on the card, either, so he got the call, too.”
"We did it. We got the belt."@jaiopetaia1 on how it feels to be the first ever @Zuffa_Boxing Champion! pic.twitter.com/a8a7K2PEyV
— Paramount Boxing (@ParamountBoxing) March 9, 2026
The Zuffa Boxing belt will become the belt
The arrival of the Zuffa Boxing belt has led to comment online from some fans suggesting that the sport just has another belt to add to the alphabet titles that already existed in the sport.
White said that the Zuffa belt will eventually supercede and replace those from the sanctioning bodies in the Zuffa Boxing ecosystem.
“I would say that's ridiculous,” said White.
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“So what we're doing is all the guys who fight for us, (the Zuffa belt) will be the belt. There won't be any other belts...this is all just getting started. We're four fights in. In two, three years, we’ll see where we stand.
“The writing is on the wall. Everybody can read it clearly now. And what I thought would be two, three years from now will be months from now.”
White and Zuffa Boxing are only getting started
When asked whether he’d consider working in tandem with another promoter, White set out the landscape as he made clear that he doesn’t need the input or co-operation of the sport’s other big-name promoters as he looks to build Zuffa Boxing into a powerhouse organization, and the place where the best boxers in the world want to compete.
“I’m four fights in, imagine when I'm 44 fights in – we'll have all the best guys here. All the best guys are going to be here,” said White.
Watch The Entire Press Conference Here
“We've done four events this year. Bob Arum has done one, De La Hoya has done one. PBC has done none. We've done four. I just told you I might do 44 fights this year. We'll see how this all plays out, but we're definitely going to end up doing more than we had planned to do."