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Stevie McKenna: ‘Expect Pure Mayhem And Excitement’ | Zuffa Boxing 07
Ireland’s Latest Arrival To Zuffa Boxing Plans To Make An Instant Impact In A New Weight Class
Monaghan, Ireland’s Stevie McKenna has already picked up an army of fans in the United States, but he plans on introducing himself to an even bigger audience when he returns to the ring this weekend.
McKenna will make his Zuffa Boxing debut at Bournemouth International Centre on England’s South Coast on Saturday night, when he’ll officially move up to the middleweight division to face American Casey James Streeter in an eight-round main card contest.
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It’s been a minute since McKenna has laced up the gloves and stepped through the ropes for a professional fight, but he’s back now and raring to go again.
“Yeah, it's great being back in fight week again,” he said.
“It was a long 18 months, but I spent 18 months in the gym training hard, so I'm bigger and stronger now. I'm fighting at middleweight, and I just can't wait to be unleashed, really. I'm like a lion ready to get out of the cage and attack.”
With Zuffa Boxing only operating active weight classes in the traditional divisions, former super welterweight competitor McKenna knew he had to move up, but as he explained, the jump in weight was an inevitability regardless.
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“I was bursting at the weight below anyway, so middleweight made more sense for me,” he explained.
“I'm big and strong at the weight. I'm six-foot-two, I can punch, I'm very strong. I've been working hard in the gym, and you're gonna see an improved, stronger Stevie McKenna [that's] more vicious on fight night.”
McKenna’s regimen of constant training during his hiatus has seen him preparing in contrasting venues, as he started off working in his home gym before swapping that for the state-of-the-art facilities of the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
“I have a gym at the back of my house, my dad and my brother, we train there every day,” he explained.
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“I haven't missed a day, a session since my last fight, really, and I've been working hard and improving every day.
“I was over in Las Vegas for six and a half weeks prior to this fight to train at the UFC Performance Institute, and it’s unbelievable out there. So, I'm in a really good place right now, and I'm just looking forward to fighting again and knocking people out.”
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Having access to the UFC Performance Institute offers fighters like McKenna the opportunity to utilise the sort of facilities that few athletes can access. It’s something he says has helped take his training camp to a new level.
“Vegas is the best place in the world for boxing, so we like to base a lot of our camps out there, get the top-quality sparring,” he said.
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“And now, using the UFC facilities, it's a game-changer, you know? The whole facility is incredible, really. And you really find the benefits for a fighter, you know? These small percentages make a difference.”
McKenna will end a 539-day layoff when he takes on Streeter at the weekend as he bids to bounce back after the first loss of his professional career. That defeat to fellow Zuffa Boxing 07 competitor Lee Cutler left him frustrated at the judges’ scorecards after he found himself on the wrong end of a majority decision verdict.
“Yeah, it's one of those fights, you know?” he said.
“I thought I won, but I've moved on from it. That's in the past. So it's all about Saturday night now, and going back to doing what I do best, and that's knock people out.”
Knocking people out seems to come pretty easily to McKenna. Of his 15 pro wins, 14 have come inside the distance, and he plans to add another to his record this weekend in his Zuffa Boxing debut.
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The decision to switch things up and join the Zuffa Boxing roster was an easy one for McKenna, as he explained.
“Zuffa Boxing is the future of boxing,” he said.
“When I heard Dana White was getting involved in boxing, I wanted to be a part of it immediately. Him and Nick Khan are geniuses. It’s the best promotion in combat sport between them. So, it's great to be a part of Zuffa.”
It’s also the chance to make a little piece of history on the first Zuffa Boxing event held outside of the United States. And while McKenna is planning a big performance in England on Saturday, he’s hopeful that he’ll get the chance to do the same on home soil further down the line.
“It's great to be a part of the first show in the UK, and I'm looking forward to big shows in Ireland,” he enthused.
“I'm looking for sell-out stadiums in Ireland. There's big fights that we can make, there's fights with Callum Walsh that they can make. There's a lot of big fights out there. So, I'm looking forward to returning home to Ireland.”
Standing across the ring from McKenna on fight night will be Casey James Streeter, a 15-3-2 fighter out of Portland, Maine who went 3-0 in 2025 before being stopped by Leo Ruiz in his Zuffa Boxing debut. He arrives in the UK determined to rebound and claim his first win as a Zuffa Boxing athlete, and McKenna knows he’ll be facing a tough, determined opponent.
“Yeah, he's a game fighter," McKenna said. "He's come to win. This is his big opportunity as well, so I'm not taking him lightly.
“He's going to come, and he's going to meet me in the center of the ring and we're going to trade it out and bring it.”
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A new weight class and a new environment means new opportunities for McKenna, and he’s already got his sights set on becoming a Zuffa Boxing champion. He said he’s ready to step into the ring with anyone at 160 pounds to make it happen, though he dismissed any suggestion of a rematch with Cutler, who also competes under the Zuffa Boxing banner in Bournemouth this weekend.
“He doesn't really offer much,” he said.
“He's a guy that doesn't really offer much in the boxing world. No one knows him, and he doesn't really have any personality or anything.
“I'm after big things. I want the Zuffa belt, I want the big fights, and whoever's in my way to getting there, I'll take them out.”
That focus will be combined with his trademark energy when the action gets underway at the BIC, where he said the fans in attendance, and those watching on Paramount+ in the United States and Sky Sports in the UK, are in for a treat.
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“Expect pure mayhem and excitement when I step into the ring,” he promised.
“There's no such thing as a boring Stevie McKenna fight. Any time you watch me, you're on the edge of your seat, so when you tune in, you know I will catch your eye.”
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