Dana White’s life is about to come full circle. The former boxing trainer, who stepped into the world of combat sports because of his love for boxing, has promised to make a grand return. When exactly, no one knows. Or any of the details for that matter. After all, there are many models for what is tentatively being called ‘Zuffa Boxing’ could pursue.

There are promotions in boxing, but they operate in a very different way than the UFC. Boxing promotions like Eddie Hearn-led ‘Matchroom Boxing’ and Frank Warren-led ‘Queensberry Promotions’ are essentially sports management companies whose fighters often fight against opponents from other boxing promotions. But Dana White has a different model in mind. Namely, the one he employs in the MMA juggernaut.

“Can you get the UFC model, which works, can you get that into boxing?”, a combat sports journalist asked White in a recent interview for ‘TNT Sports’. “I think you can. Whether I’m right or wrong, we will find out,” White said.

This means that ‘Zuffa Boxing’ would sign boxers who would fight other boxers signed to them. Presumably, ‘Zuffa Boxing’ will also have many different weight classes and intra-promotional rankings, just like in the UFC. That indeed would be a revolutionary move for a sport that has been on a downward trend for quite some time. If it does work out, it could potentially solve two of boxing’s biggest problems at the moment.

How Dana White-led Zuffa boxing could change boxing for the better

The biggest problem facing boxing right now is fighters hand-picking opponents. The biggest stars in the sport choose an easy payday over fighters they know could give them tough competition. Floyd Mayweather has been a pioneer of this tactic. Since promotions aim to maximize their fighter’s welfare, they have no problem (and even encourage) their fighters to take the easy road. But that will not be the case in a UFC model, where the aim is to put on good, exciting fights, not to make sure the outcome is one way or the other.

The other problem boxing has is the value attached to being undefeated. Having an ‘O’ on your record makes the road to a title shot much much easier, another reason stars are so hesitant to take tough fights. In fact, it is standard practice for stars or stars in the making to exclusively fight tomato cans for their first fifteen or twenty fights to bolster their records to an impressive 15-0 or 20-0 or even higher in other cases.

That of course, would never happen in the UFC or under a UFC-inspired model, where you fight people of your approximate level or better in every fight. Especially as you move up the level and break into the rankings. With the head honcho recently extending his wings with the success of his new venture in the form of ‘Powerslap’, he wouldn’t hesitate to add another feather to his cap.

Do you think the UFC model will work in boxing? Let us know in the comment section below!