Dana White of the UFC, Turki Alashikh partner for a new boxing promotion under Tko Umbrella

Dana White has long expressed ambitions to take a big step in the world of boxing. Now, under the TKO banner, he finally entered the pugilist space.

Turki Alashikh, Tko Group Holdings – The parent company of WWE and UFC – and SELA from Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday a multi -year partnership to establish a new boxing promotion. TKO “will provide daily operational expertise, promotion management and monitoring”, with the CEO of the UFC White and the WWE president Nick Khan, leading the charge.

According to Wednesday’s announcement, the promotion features “a highly structured system to develop new talents from around the world”, as well as access to all boxers at UFC performance institutes in Las Vegas, Mexico City and Shanghai, and “Production, TKO production, media and promotional expertise”.

COO TKO Mark Shapiro revealed for the first time in February that talks were underway to create a boxing league in partnership with Alashikh.

“Everyone knows that we are in talks with the Saudis,” said Shapiro. “But to give you a little more colors, I will tell you that we are close to an agreement with the Saudis on the creation of a boxing league where we, TKO, we will be the producer, the promoter and responsible for all the daily operations of the company, where we would receive cost of $ 10 million.”

White detailed on Wednesday at the Ring magazine in Alshikh how the new boxing league will work, drawing similarities with the structure of the UFC.

“Everyone knows the format – the best fight the best,” said White. “You are progressing in the ranking, and once someone enters the first five (and), there is no question (on) who are the top five guys in each weight class, they fight it. And once someone keeps this belt, you don’t need three letters in front of the belt. The one who has this belt is the best in this weight class. It is a very simple model.”

Boxing has long been criticized for its four celens system, in which four different fighters could theoretically have a legitimate claim to be the best of the division. At the same time, sport has often failed to make the best fights at the right time, the most famous example being the Floyd Mayweather against Manny Pacquia Mega-Fight, which, according to many, occurred much later that he should have.

Things started to move with the involvement of Alshikh in sport. In the past 12 months, boxing has increased by the best fights for the best shows of the Alshikh Riyadh season.

“This historic partnership between the powers of the industry opens the way to an unrivaled experience for boxers and fans,” Alashikh said in a press release. “Together, we develop the next generation of talents and offer world -class events at a time when sport is ready for more disturbances.”