Dana White was pleased with the direction of his new boxing project following the conclusion of the event known as Zuffa Boxing 3. On the sporting front, Nigeria’s Efe Ajagba (21-1-1, 15 KOs) defeated former world champion Charles Martin (30-4-1) by TKO in the fourth round, and Umar Dzambekov (30-5-1, 27 KOs) stole the spotlight after knocking out Ahmed Elbiali in the second round with a stunning uppercut.
However, what White is proud of is the structure he is building at a rapid pace and, he says, he is not facing any opposition. In less than a month, the UFC’s chief executive has staged three small events at its Meta Apex facility in Las Vegas and it seems that television – the most important thing now – is working. As a result, brand awareness is being generated among viewers and the athletes themselves. Zuffa 04 is confirmed for March 8, with Jai Opetaia fighting Brandon Glanton for the title of this organization.
After the event, White criticized how boxing has worked so far at a commercial and structural level: “The boxing world has not put up a minimum of resistance to these three great Zuffa Boxing events with a more competitive reaction. It’s an uneven competition we won’t even have any meaningful opposition and it’s the truth it’s like beating up babies. I feel good but a little worried because I feel like I’m beating up babies. I thought traditional companies were going to react and be braver, we didn’t think this was going to be so easy, which makes me very surprised.” In part, the manager is not wrong in this, because beyond the fight between Shakur Stevenson and Teofimio Lopez, the stars have not appeared in the ring in 2026.
The boxing world has not put up a minimum of resistance to these three great Zuffa Boxing events with a more competitive reaction
White then focused on his new great enemy, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing: “I saw Eddie Hearn say that the [Zuffa Boxing] belt sucks and stuff like that. I don’t think anyone looks at Eddie Hearn and says ‘oh, this guy is a visionary’…. He’s been in boxing all his life. I see him like most politicians: you haven’t done anything in the sport except stay in the lane, follow all the rules and move on. You ended up becoming part of the problem, that’s what happened,” commented the American promoter, who didn’t stop there: “I don’t want to rip Eddie Hearn apart or anything, but Eddie Hearn works for his father. I don’t think he came up with a clear vision, whereas we did. We’re going to change the whole sport. This sport has been around for over 100 years and there are a lot of players involved. There’s a lot of money at stake. Eddie Hearn and his father have a lot of money. It’s not that they can’t compete, it’s that they can’t compete because they don’t know how to compete. They have no vision.”
Eddie Hearn and his father have a lot of money. […] It’s not that they can’t compete, it’s that they can’t compete because they don’t know how to do it, they have no vision
There was also some for the former boxer and promoter Oscar de la Hoya: “We all know that [De La Hoya] is a complete mental case. He’s talking nonsense, his house is in foreclosure and he’s suing his boxer to try to keep him. Has he done a Clapback Thursday (the name of his show) lately? I’d love to see an episode of Clapback Thursday this Thursday from Oscar De La Hoya. Everybody feels it. It’s already happening. It’s going to be a fun year.”
De La Hoya is a complete mental case. He’s talking nonsense, his house is in foreclosure
Finally, Dana commented that she simply did not want to work with traditional organizations and that was it, but she did not want to leave without taking a swipe at Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council (WBC): “We’ve had three fights and people are asking a lot of questions, and this Sulaiman guy is amazing. He’s amazing. He’s the greatest publicist of all time about how fucked up boxing is. It’s amazing. In the end, you’re supposed to be the experts on what’s going on. Like I said, I’ll present you with a series of jobs this year and then you can judge me by how this plays out. Everybody knows this has been broken for a long time.”
Read the full article here
