Boxing

TKO Group, Owners of WWE And UFC, Nearing Launch of New Boxing League In Collaboration With Saudi Arabia

TKO group is reportedly nearing the launch of a new Boxing league in collaboration with Saudi Arabia.

Apratim Banerjee

IMAGO / Inpho Photography

TKO Group are reportedly nearing a launch of a new boxing league in collaboration with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The UFC and WWE combined in September 2023 to form TKO Group Holdings, Inc. Since then, superstars from both platforms have done crossover appearances.

The TKO Group are now looking to extend their footstep beyond the WWE and UFC into the boxing world. Per the New York Times, they are looking to form a league which will focus on up-and-coming boxers.

Additional details, including the name of the league, have not be released. The company has said there's nothing to announce at the moment. Saudi Arabia's PIF, meanwhile, refused to comment on the matter.

UFC CEO, Dana White, a board member of TKO Group, has long been a boxing enthusiast. After Conor McGregor's 2017 clash against Floyd Mayweather, he entertained the idea of creating Zuffa Boxing, but nothing ever came of it.

Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor in 2017
IMAGO / Photo News

TKO COO, Mark Shapiro, has also expressed interest in boxing. In December, Shapiro said during the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference:

Look, boxing is something we would do organically. So nothing to buy, just something we’d start up and likely take a partner from the Middle East that would serve as an investment partner for us. So that’s something we’re exploring right now. Nothing to announce.

- Mark Shapiro

Select boxing fights are often streamed on UFC Fight Pass and Dana White said during a DWCS press conference (quotes via CBS Sports):

Every time I get on the phone with these guys I go, 'Am I out of my f---ing mind?' But I think that obviously now is the time or I would have done it then. I was kicking around -- I was even talking about Anthony Joshua at one time and stuff like that. I'm glad that I pumped the brakes and we waited. Everything is about timing. Is now the time? We're going to find out...

- Dana White

Dana White was also spotted with Turki Alalshiskh during a recent UFC Saudi Arabia event. Alalshikh has had a hand in staging a few big fights in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, including Francis Ngannou vs Tyson Fury, Ngannou vs Anthony Joshua, and Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk.

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Apratim Banerjee
APRATIM BANERJEE

Apratim is an experienced sports journalist and has covered Football, Boxing, MMA, and more for the past five years. He has worked for Sports Illustrated, Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and other publications. Apratim is currently pursuing an MSc. in Sport Marketing at Loughborough University London.