Dana White entered boxing as a promoter in 2026 but has shown to be in decline in many ways in the UFC and boxing, as boxing takes off.
There has been some very poor signings already for his new fledgling boxing organization and talks are Paramount Plus are not happy with White at all.
Nor are the UFC anymore or their owners in the sport of MMA.
Some things to note on White and some other boxing promoters for those new to boxing or for those unfamiliar.
Dana White’s Behind-the-Scenes Practices Angering Competitors
- Publicly insulted rival promoters (Arum, De La Hoya, Hearn), calling them “terrible” and “rinky dink.”
- Poached Conor Benn directly from Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom stable.
- Accused by De La Hoya of using Zuffa as a “Trojan Horse” – overpaying initially to gain credibility, then planning to scale payments back.
- Sued by Boxxer for allegedly poaching contracted fighters (Chris Billam-Smith, Sam Hickey).
- Bypassed U.S. promoters by working directly with Saudi financier Turki Alalshikh to arrange major fights.
- Challenged Hearn to a boxing match then backed out, leading Hearn to call him an “old p*ssy.”
Eddie Hearn’s Due Diligence That Backfires
- Took meetings with White to study the UFC model, but White used those insights to poach his fighters.
- Signed UFC fighter Tom Aspinall emotionally, making bad business decisions based on personal feuds.
- Admitted White “made me a huge star in America” – boosting his rival’s profile instead of focusing on his own product.
- Hearn regularly travels to other countries on his competitors where they were born to try to get character references and do to due diligence that backs fires on him in those countries and his own country of the United Kingdom regularly.
- The authorities in the United Kingdom and other countries in Europe and worldwide are well aware of Hearn’s attempts at private travel for such meetings and took notes on him many times without him knowing so.
- They learned much about Hearn over the last couple of years. Hearn was once a great sports promoter but has been in massive decline in recent years, his stable is very weak and boxers and athletes and people are very slow to approach Eddie Hearn personally with anything, although his organization is no problem mostly, it is Eddie Hearn himself who has caused his decline.
Dana White’s Intelligence-Gathering on Competitors
- Takes meetings with people who claim to know his competitors in Nevada and other places with former Commissioners and their staff on his competitors but he has been in decline in Vegas for some time now, Dana White.
- Studies other combat sports promoters’ operations but forgot to focus on himself, a key error.
Decline of Traditional Promoters (2026)
- Oscar De La Hoya, Al Haymon (PBC), and Bob Arum (Top Rank) excluded from recent Saudi-brokered “peace meeting.”
- New Saudi-backed corporations entering boxing with fresh financial power, sidelining old guard.
- PBC moved to DAZN to join Matchroom, Top Rank, and Golden Boy under one roof – diluting their individual power.
- White and Hearn both less powerful in 2026 than they should be, having wasted energy on feuds instead of building their own businesses.
Also, Turki Alalshikh in Saudi Arabia, the advisor that was involved in boxing a lot in recent years, all of a sudden recently has not been involved in the sport as much.
Some notes Turki Alalshikh’s sudden decline in boxing recently
- Saudi spending slowing – Kingdom wants boxing to “stand on its own feet” after major investments.
- Many other new countries are investing in the sport all the time as boxing continues to go to new levels.
- Alalshikh may step back soon – uncertainty over how long MBS will fund his boxing agenda .
- Accused of “Trojan horse” strategy – used Matchroom and Queensberry for influence, then pivoted to TKO .
- TKO allegedly not paying purses – Conor Benn’s $15M is covered by Sela (Saudi), not TKO, showing Saudi cash still underwriting White .
- Dana White skipped his peace summit – White refused to attend Alalshikh’s June 2026 London meeting with Hearn, Warren, and DAZN .
- Critics say Saudi era peaking – Simon Jordan in the UK predicted the cash injection would eventually end and promoters would be made redundant .
- Still promoting events – confirmed Joshua-Prenga (July 25, Jeddah) and pushing Paramount+ broadcast deal .
- Overall trend – reduced public presence, less new spending, and signs he is transitioning out of day-to-day boxing operations .
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