“Judge us on our body of work,” Dana White said, responding to criticism of Zuffa Boxing’s stuttering entry into the boxing world this year. At the time of writing, that body looks a little pale, a little malnourished.
Signings are one thing, see, and the acquisitions of Shakur Stevenson, Jai Opetaia, and Conor Benn were certainly statements – toning the physique of that afore-mentioned body of work.
But fights are another thing, and after 11 Zuffa events in 2026, there have been no marquee match-ups to speak of.
Yes, Zuffa had a hand in Benn’s high-profile title shot against Ryan Garcia, but that was a co-promotion, and this is where you could say that results are yet another thing: Benn, whose signature reportedly cost Zuffa $15m, was eviscerated inside two rounds.
Another problem for Zuffa is that signings can be “one thing”, as this writer wrote 104 words ago, but it seems they can also be nothing.
That is because Stevenson was just granted his release from the company, three months after joining, having fought zero times under the Zuffa banner.
“I’ve been in camp for, like, eight weeks preparing for fights that I was told was going to happen, and it has not happened,” the unbeaten four-weight champion said on YouTube, seemingly referencing a collapsed dream fight with compatriot Devin Haney.
“But look, it is what it is: this is the business of boxing,” the American continued. “I’m not mad at anyone, I’m not pointing no fingers, but upon all of these issues and things that’s been going on, I requested to be released from Zuffa Boxing. Now, over the weekend, my request has been granted and I am officially a free agent.”
Stevenson, 29, said he wasn’t pointing any fingers, but there’s an argument that he was Nelson-Muntz-pointing-and-laughing when he reposted a video of Eddie Hearn appearing to mock White.
Hearn, who previously promoted Stevenson and who has engaged in a bitter feud with White this year, was filmed dancing as his Matchroom colleague Frank Smith captioned the clip: “Mood right now [laughing emoji] how’s your #bodyofwork.”
Stevenson continued in his own video: “I want to tell the fans and tell everybody that’s in the public that I am now taking my career in my own hands and I’m starting my own promotional company. And I’m willing to work with other promoters and anybody else that’s out there that’s willing to be as serious about my career as I am about my career. I’m just excited, I’m excited to be in this position.”
Alongside claiming that Zuffa should be judged on its body of work, White also suggested that the end of 2026 would be a reasonable point to make such judgements.
In this way, Zuffa may be running out of time.
Not only has Opetaia been stripped of his IBF cruiserweight title (which led him to launch legal action against the organisation); his Zuffa stint has only featured fights with Noel Mikaelian and Brandon Glanton – not his desired showdown with David Benavidez. Benn did get the clash he craved against Garcia, but it ended disastrously, damaging Benn’s selling potential. And Stevenson swiftly left of his own volition, having been signed off of a masterclass against Teofimo Lopez.
Zuffa Boxing 12 is scheduled for 7 November in London, whose Copper Box arena will host Chris Billam-Smith’s second headline fight with Zuffa. Billam-Smith is a lovely man, an exciting fighter, and his bout with Cheavon Clarke should be entertaining, but not much more can be said there. Zuffa Boxing 13 is due to bring Carlos Adames’s Zuffa debut, against Welsh fighter Gerome Warburton, which will not set the world alight; that’s not so much a prediction as a spoiler.
Beyond that, there are no further events currently scheduled, with much of White’s focus dedicated to obtaining some promotional duties for Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, which Hearn has said can not happen – per contracts – and which would make no sense anyway, given the American’s lack of involvement with either boxer’s career.
All of this has played out against the backdrop of Zuffa’s parent company, TKO, pushing for a controversial bill to be passed: the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, which detractors claim would allow Zuffa the same monopoly over boxing that the UFC arguably holds in mixed martial arts (MMA). At the time of writing, the bill looks likely to be fully passed.
Furthermore, White’s emotional investment in Zuffa and his feud with Hearn appears to have come at the expense of his enthusiasm for the UFC – and his knowledge of his own product, perhaps, as evidenced by him listing the wrong fighter’s accolades when trying to hype up a recent title bout. Add to that Sean Strickland’s public admission that he feels done with the UFC, and that he’d like to fight out his contract and box as soon as possible, and the disparity between UFC and Zuffa pay has only intensified as a topic. Strickland even suggested that he would be fine giving up his middleweight title in the process of leaving.
With time running out, how can Zuffa save itself before the end of 2026? Well, for what it’s worth, it might not actually need saving.
For a fledgling promotion, Zuffa has done just fine. The greater issue has been White’s bluster, and how that has arguably made it impossible to deliver on his promises.