ZUFFA Boxing is the new professional boxing promotion launched recently by Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA).
In recent months, Zuffa Boxing has been signing boxing talents for huge money. Zuffa’s recent acquisitions include cruiserweight champ Jai Opetaia, welterweight star Conor Benn, and former WBC featherweight champion “Magnifico” Mark Magsayo.
Magsayo’s career has been on a standstill since July 2025, when he defeated Jorge Mata for the WBC Continental Americas junior lightweight (130 pounds) title.
Magsayo was supposed to fight last October Italian Michael Magnesi in a WBC junior lightweight title eliminator match. Magsayo was then ranked No. 1 by the WBC and Magnesi No. 2 at junior lightweight. The winner of the fight would have been the mandatory challenger to WBC champion O’Shaquie Foster. Unfortunately, promotional and budgetary issues plagued the fight and the WBC eventually called it off.
Magsayo abandoned his bid for the WBC junior lightweight title and announced a move up to the heavier lightweight (135 pounds) division.
Magnesi, without throwing a punch, was installed by the WBC as the No.1 contender in the junior lightweight division.
As it turned out, Magsayo signed to join Zuffa Boxing. He is expected to make his debut in the promotion on April 5 against Feargal McCrory.
The WBA took note of Magsayo’s move and promptly ranked him No. 5 in its lightweight rankings. Magsayo, as of this writing, has not been rated by the WBC in the lightweight class.
The move to Zuffa Boxing is both good and bad for Magsayo.
The good part is that Zuffa has the money to burn and is very active in promoting fights. This means Magsayo will finally get to see a lot of time in the ring and will be paid handsomely.
However, there is a problem with the overall structure of Zuffa Boxing.
White is at odds with the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF. Zuffa, in fact, has come up with is own championship belt.
Recently, undefeated Australian Jai Opetaia encountered issues after the IBF threatened to strip him of his cruiserweight crown. The IBF balked at the presence of the Zuffa belt and how White tried to make the IBF belt appear inferior. In fact, Opetaia’s recent fight against Brandon Glanton was advertised by Zuffa as a battle for the “inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight championship.”
Amid threats of a lawsuit, the IBF softened its stance and claimed Opetaia is still its IBF cruiser king.
Zuffa Boxing is trying to run pro boxing like the UFC. Zuffa Boxing has been signing up big names to come up with a stable. Zuffa Boxing is not just acting like a promoter, it is also trying to act like a manager and a sanctioning body. This violates the Muhammad Ali Act, a federal law in the United States that mandates transparency and seeks to prevent conflicts of interests between promoters and managers. Simply put, one cannot be the promoter, manager and sanctioning official at the same time. This is what White is trying to pull off.
White has drawn the ire of the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF and longtime promoters with his approach. Experts claim the Zuffa belt is just a trophy and not a real title belt for the simple reason that Zuffa Boxing is a promotional outfit and not a sanctioning body.
Zuffa Boxing is associated with Saudi Arabia’s GEA (which is behind the boxing promotions at Riyadh Season), and Saudi Arabia’s Sela (a state-owned event management, entertainment, and hospitality company). Not a few believe Zuffa is funded by money from Saudi Arabia. The chairman of the GEA, Turki Alalshikh, is also the new owner of The Ring magazine.
The magazine has its own belt which Zuffa is also promoting. Both Zuffa and The Ring do not see eye-to-eye with the WBC, WBO, WBA, and IBF.
White’s feud with the Big 4 of boxing is evident. Thus far, the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF have not made any move to ban fighters associated with Zuffa Boxing from competing for its belts. It the feud gets ugly, it may happen.
In fact, this may be the reason why the WBC did not give Magsayo, a former WBC champ, an automatic ranking in the lightweight class.
Opetaia is aware of the feud and reportedly included in the contract with Zuffa the understanding that he can compete for the four generally recognized belts in the sport.
Hope Magsayo included the same provision in his contract. The idea of Magsayo being a “Zuffa” champ, not a WBC, WBA, WBO or IBF champ, leaves a sour taste in the mouth.