Sunday night saw Zuffa Boxing’s first Las Vegas event away from the Meta APEX as The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan served as the venue for Zuffa Boxing 08.
After an action-packed night of fights, UFC President and CEO Dana White sat down to answer questions from the assembled media at the post-fight press conference.
Cain Sandoval and Brandun Lee served up a thrilling battle as the pair fought all the way to the judges’ scorecards, with Sandoval claiming a bounce-back victory to hand Lee his first career loss in 31 pro contests.
White said the key to the bout’s success was smart matchmaking.
ZUFFA BOXING 08 REWIND: Final Results + Scorecards + Highlights
“I think that, when you do the right matchmaking, 99 percent of the time it should work out right,” he explained.
“It's not always guaranteed that it's going to be what it was tonight, but (former world heavyweight champion) Michael Moorer grabbed me when I was walking out and said ‘That’s Fight of the Year.’ I think the entire business is about matchmaking, in any combat sport.”
While others may comment on what UFC and Zuffa Boxing are doing, White himself is staying focused on the job at hand, and said that the work will speak for itself.
“It feels like I'm the only one having fun right now, but like I keep saying, judge us at the end of the year. It's been good so far,” said White.
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“If you think about this, we did the White House fight, which is one of the most insane things to ever pull off. Since then, we did a (UFC) Fight Night in the United States, we did a (UFC) Fight Night in Baku, we did a boxing match, we did a Brazilian jiu-jitsu show, and we just launched a new season of The Ultimate Fighter.
“We just keep rolling – that's what we do. I don't worry about what anybody else is doing.”
White made clear that, despite reports of a cease-and-desist letter from Golden Boy Promotions regarding Ryan Garcia, Zuffa remain interested in all of the sport’s big names, but they won’t talk to people who they know are under contract.
“We're not trying to mess with other people's contracts,” he stated.
“We had a situation that did happen a little while ago, where a kid was talking to us, and some guy said, 'Well, we have a contract with them,’ – then we're out. If you have a contract, then we're out. We only want to talk to people that are available and can legally talk to us.
WATCH: Tony Hirsch Jr Knocks Out Jaybrio Pe Benito at Zuffa Boxing 08
“So, I'm not trying to steal anybody's fighters, while they're under contract or any of that stuff. Then, when you asked me what do you think about getting Shakur Stevenson? What do you think about getting… I want them all. When their contracts are up, and they’re legal to talk to us, we want to talk to them all.”
White was also asked for his opinion on the stories surrounding Floyd Mayweather Jr, who is dealing with financial and legal issues.
The Phantom 😶🌫️
— Zuffa_Boxing (@Zuffa_Boxing) June 30, 2026
Tony Hirsch Jr is off to a hot start in his young career 🔥 #ZuffaBoxing08 pic.twitter.com/qaHwg95ll0
“Yeah, that’s a tough one. I've talked to him about it, but I don't know enough about it. I hear all these different stories,” said White.
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“When somebody works as hard as he did, and amasses the type of wealth that he had, and then they lose it, or it gets stolen, or whatever the deal is, it's horrible, and it happens a lot in professional sports. Who knows? Anything is possible – maybe we could do something and figure it out for him.”
On Oleksandr Usyk fighting his last fight for Zuffa Boxing…
“Anything is possible.”
Could it be against Deontay Wilder?
“Anything is possible.”
Could Jose Valenzuela face Shakur Stevenson next?
“Anything is possible.”
On which top names he wants to sign to Zuffa Boxing…
“I want them all. When their contracts are up and they’re legal to talk to us, we want to talk to them all.”
