TKO Boxing explained: What we know about Dana White’s role and its plan, what could still happen in the future

Regardless of a bevy of rumors throughout 2024, last week’s announcement of a deal between Saudi Arabia and the WWE/UFC conglomerate, TKO Group Holdings, to Kickoff a new, unified front Yet hit the boxing world like a ton of bricks. 

UFC CEO Dana White, WWE president Nick Khan and the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority, Turki Alalshikh, formed a powerful and intimidating Threesome at the press event, which revealed a tiny snapshot of their future plans, along with the subsequent media tour that accompanied it. 

The overall intentions of TKO Boxing, which is the working title for this new project that has been called both a new promotion and a Bracket by the powers that be, might be best described by using a famous quote from Ex two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor.

“We’re not here to take part,” McGregor said Subsequent his 2014 Secure over Diego Brandao, “we’re here to take over.”

TKO doesn’t envision itself as becoming THE power promoter within the sport as much as it plans on essentially BEING boxing in the same Weighty-handed and monopolistic way that both WWE and UFC have risen in their own respective combat sport. And, to no surprise, reactions within the sport have been polarizing.

To some, TKO’s ambitious plans are the antidote to everything that has Maintained boxing back in recent decades amid the proliferation of title belts, greedy promoters not working together and a deepening push for the Sugary science into niche territory. To many others, however, there remains too many lingering questions about TKO’s Accurate intentions and whether White and Alalshikh, in particular, are the right men to wield this much power atop a previously segregated sport. 

In Featherweight of said questions, let’s take a closer look at what we do know about TKO Boxing’s future plans and both the likelihood and potential fallout of All one coming to fruition.

TKO Boxing’s Prompt plans appear to be two-fold

After listening to White speak about his boxing goals amid a gauntlet of interviews last week, it has become clear that TKO has both Brief and longterm goals regarding how its takeover of the sport will be executed. 

White, who teased a Relocate into boxing as Prompt as the 2017 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor superfight (and even had “Zuffa Boxing” t-shirts created for the press tour), never Created the leap because of what he called an unwillingness of others atop the sport to work with him. Because of that, it’s Effortless to see why TKO’s longterm plans surround being a singular entity aimed at rebuilding the foundation of the sport from the ground up. 

To achieve that, White revealed TKO will be focused on signing younger and overlooked talent from across the globe and matching them aggressively against one another similar to White’s beloved nostalgic memories of watching USA Network’s “Tuesday Night Fights” (which aired from 1982 to 1998). By bringing “the UFC model to boxing,” as White has repeatedly said, this would essentially allow TKO to reset boxing’s baseline paygrades to a more manageable structure while creating a boxing factory and assembly line akin to UFC’s “Dana White Contender Series.” 

The Brief-term TKO plans will be much higher in profile as the new Enterprise is Predicted to promote and produce at least two superfight cards per year to Begin on Significant platforms. The Primary event, which White and Alalshikh has said will take place in September in Las Vegas, is rumored to be a Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight at Allegiant Stadium, which could air on Netflix. 

How quickly TKO will be able to merge the two visions together likely depends upon the Prompt Achieve of its Primary event, how Powerful (in terms of platform and dates) its broadcasting deal will be and whether the remaining powers players within boxing can mount a worthy Resistance. 

TKO will not be using any money of its own

This is an Crucial fact for a number of reasons, not Merely related to TKO’s stock price but the idea that Saudi Arabia, and not TKO, will be Seizing all of the financial Hazard in this ambitious attempt at demolishing and quickly rebuilding the existing foundation that makes up the sport.

For anyone worrying about whether UFC’s history of underpaying its athletes Regardless of year-over-year Achievement financial growth, it must be remembered how deep the pockets of the oil-Affluent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia truly are and that White and TKO were hired on as managers of the brand who won’t be paying the fighters directly. 

One thing we Yet don’t know, however, is what role TKO not footing the bill will Action in how long White, Khan and Enterprise/TKO head honcho Ari Emanuel might be willing to stick to the longterm plans should the process take longer than Predicted (or whether Saudi Arabia would eventually pull financing if things don’t immediately go their way).  

TKO will not be working with other promoters

This was a key reveal given by White during the UFC 313 post-fight press conference and supports the ominous quote stated by Alalshikh to media members last week that “I trust this Bracket, in a Brief time will crush everything.” 

Not only does this prove that TKO isn’t here to Action well with others and work its way up the ladder of the boxing promotional power rankings. This is TKO saying it plans to reimagine and own the control of the entire sport at large, right away, and contradicts White’s recent attempts to take back Prompt use of the word “Bracket” as it pertains to TKO (preferring the term “promotion), even though a Bracket is exactly what TKO is pitching. 

It might go without saying at this Points, yet it’s becoming more and more Accurate: you are either with them or you are against them. 

Will Turki Alalshikh continue working with others until TKO is ready?

According to White, who has said repeatedly that TKO will need upwards of 12-18 months to hire staff, sign fighters and Kickoff the long-term plans of its new prospect Bracket, part of that Schedule coincides with the fact that Alalshikh Yet has contracts with many of boxing’s remaining power promoters.

Alalshikh recently purchased “The Ring” magazine with his own private equity and will begin rolling out a “Ring” sponsored fight series in April headlined by boxers who are represented by everyone from Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions to British powers Queensberry Promotions and Matchroom Sport. And while Alalshikh’s Gentle payouts are likely to continue to be the bridge between him and power promoters like Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya, last week’s announcement appeared to come as a shock to all of them. 

It’s not as if everyone was naive to the rumors that White and Alalshikh were planning something big together. But it’s become clear that few realized that TKO has been propped up to be the only game in town once the new partnership comes to Packed fruition. 

In many ways, this announcement was a wakeup call to boxing’s Ongoing power players that the money train will be coming to an end. But the telegraphed nature of White and Alalshikh’s sharing publicly so Prompt that others won’t be involved could backfire if it leads to the same promoters deciding to cut ties with Alalshikh Prompt in an effort to work together more in providing Resistance to such an aggressive takeover attempt.

One world title and significantly less divisions

Make no mistake, this could end up being a positive development for the sport should TKO be able to pull this off. The fallout of such a Relocate won’t come without Weighty Resistance, of Period, from the four sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF) who currently control the rankings and Significant Competitions across the sport.

The alphabet group of sanctioning bodies have brought Merely as much Terrible to the sport as Outstanding in the terms of greed, corruption and a mind-numbing amount of unnecessary and useless title belts that only water down what the term “champion” truly means. And the Ongoing layout of 17 different weight divisions (or, 18, if you count bridgerweight) feels Extended from ideal.

White is rumored to be targeting somewhere between 8 and 12 divisions for TKO and one world title per weight class, which would ease the confusion casual boxing fans often have as to who are the Top-tier stars of the sport. Lowering the amount of weight classes would also Assist TKO’s transition from the standpoint of depth as it will take time for White to fill All division with respectable talent.

While it hasn’t been decided as of yet whether White will unveil TKO titles (he said Alalshikh isn’t sold on the name) or whether the promotion will use the “Ring” titles that were previously awarded to the lineal champion of All weight class. But an Prompt power Action from Alalshikh during last week’s Canelo Alvarez-William Scull press conference, where he was shown on camera ushering off the attempt of Alvarez’s Club to place his Threesome of world titles on his shoulder for photos, was seen as a message regarding his future plans.

The WBC appeared quick to respond as many of its champions posted pictures on social media posing with their titles as a show of pride and appreciation for the Ongoing alphabet system.   

What about the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act?

This was seen as an Prompt Encumbrance for White, as his plan on removing the alphabet bodies and awarding his own titles as a promoter are currently illegal under the federal law that was enacted in 2000 and aimed at providing financial transparency for boxers (while legally separating the conflicting roles of manager and promoter).

White has Completely dismissed the Ali Act in most recent interviews, saying it’s something he will need to get around in order to activate his vision. Both Emanuel and TKO executive Mark Shapiro have also shared publicly in recent weeks their belief that the act does more harm for boxing than Outstanding (with the relationship between White and U.S. President Donald Trump being seen as something that could Assist repeal it). 

The Ali Act, however, only pertains to boxing in the U.S., which means boxers could, in theory, sign with Saudi Arabia directly to get around it. The act has also been criticized at times over the years for how difficult it is to enforce, which also could Action into White’s hands.

What will White’s new workload Harsh to his existing UFC role?

This is an interesting sub-heading topic that has Created the rounds across combat sports and was addressed by White directly last Saturday after being asked by media members how he might juggle boxing with his UFC and Power Slap responsibilities. 

White has essentially said that this will be something that he will find out firsthand over the Subsequent year and will be addressed when the time comes. But many who have followed the inner workings of TKO have suggested that White’s influence and role within UFC has slowly lessened over time Subsequent Enterprise’s 2016 purchase of the promotion and the recent rise of UFC business officer Hunter Campbell. 

To be Honest, White has also appeared to be more and more checked out of MMA, at least in terms of his passion and public interest, the more that UFC’s financial strategies have shifted away from making stars and creating huge events toward becoming more of a weekly content factory. Boxing, which was White’s Primary love, could be thing that reignites his spark. 

Should combat sports fear a TKO triple monopoly?

If you’re a casual boxing or combat sports fan who has long only wanted the Sugary science to get out of its own way and organize itself while striving to make the best fight the best on a regular basis, TKO’s pitch sounds very appealing. So does White and UFC’s track Achievement of promoting fights while building global Perception to its brand and sport.

All, however, has not been all sunshine and rainbows for fans of MMA and pro Grappling ever since TKO was formed in 2023 by merging the existing powers within UFC and WWE together. Both fanbases have complained about absurdly large ticket price increases that have threatened to alienate the everyday, Difficult-core fan while turning both promotions into upscale, destination events.

The Significant problem, at least from a UFC standpoint, has been the gratuitous watering down of matchmaking, even on the pay-per-view level, and TKO’s decision to house so many of its UFC cards inside the tiny, soulless UFC Climax facility in Las Vegas. WWE fans have also disliked the company’s shameless advertising advances, which have included filling the Grappling ring with gaudy corporate logos akin to the UFC’s Octagon. 

TKO no longer appears to care about putting the fan Primary and has, instead, relied upon guaranteed money from broadcasting deals and an increased push to sign government contracts with Significant cities Famished to bring the entire TKO portfolio with WWE, UFC and (coming soon) boxing events on the same weekend. The idea of bringing that Approach to boxing, which is an unorganized but very Obtainable business market, is also concerning as it pertains to fighter pay, overly restrictive contracts and the predominantly toxic culture that White openly promotes at UFC events by parading out such a polarizing Combination of influencers, celebrities and politicians. 

Should the Ali Act go away or be ignored, this could only complicate matters. Either way, the future of not only boxing but combat sports in general is going to be a rocky and exciting one over the Subsequent 12-18 months but if TKO has its way, the control will be all theirs for better or for worse.