The world of boxing received a massive shakeup Wednesday morning as Turki Alalshikh and UFC president Dana White announced the formation of a new boxing organization.
TKO Group Holdings, Inc., which owns the UFC’s parent company Zuffa as well as WWE, plus Alalshikh and Sela, a Saudi entertainment and hospitality company, have agreed to a multi-year partnership that will create a new professional boxing promotion.
Alalshikh is the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and in recent years has helped facilitate some of the biggest matchups within the sport of boxing.
According to Ring Magazine, which is owned by Alalshikh, “TKO will serve as managing partner, providing day-to-day operational expertise, management and oversight of the promotion, with executive leadership anchored by UFC president and CEO Dana White, and WWE president and TKO board member Nick Khan.”
White and Alalshikh made the announcement together in a video posted to social media.
“This landmark partnership between industry powerhouses sets the stage for an unparalleled experience for boxers and fans,” Alalshikh said in an official statement. “Together, we are developing the next generation of talent and delivering world-class events at a time when the sport is primed for further disruption.”
White has long teased getting more involved in the boxing landscape, even once wearing a “Zuffa Boxing” T-shirt to a past ceremonial UFC weigh-in, and in 2017 the UFC allowed and helped promote Conor McGregor’s blockbuster boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
One of the stated goals of the new organization is to ensure the best possible matchups.
“The model is proven to deliver the fights that the fans want to see,” White said. “The best will fight the best, and the fighters will continue to move up the rankings and become world champions. We will continue to make announcements on where you can watch and all the rest of the details of the business as we get closer to the launch.”
According to Ring Magazine, the new league will feature “a highly structured system to develop new talent from around the world, including athlete combines and academies,” and it will permit all its boxers to have access to the UFC Performance Institutes located in Las Vegas, Mexico City and Shanghai.
It is expected that details regarding the inaugural event, card schedule, locations and venues, plus fighter signings, will start being revealed in the coming months but the exact timeline is unknown. It is also unclear at this time the exact duration of the multi-year deal.
