When Dana White teased his vision for boxing in an interview from more than half a decade ago

Dana White recently took part in an interview with Helen Yee, during which a segment from 2019 shared a glimpse of his plans for boxing from over five years ago. White is a highly successful promoter who has been at the helm of the UFC for decades.

At the time, he was nowhere near promoting the highly anticipated boxing match between Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford set for Sep. 13. While he didn't give too much away, he did highlight that what he has in store for boxing will be massive.

"I have big plans over the next five years. You know, we really haven't even announced what I'm doing yet in boxing. I'm promoting this fight for Sheikh Turki, and then after this fight's over, I'll let everybody know what I'm doing."

When asked by Yee if he intends to emulate his formula of developing younger talent, as seen in 'The Ultimate Fighter' and Dana White's Contender Series, White confirmed her hunch.

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"Yeah, I mean, that's really what I'm into. That's what I love to do. I love to take guys that nobody's ever heard of. You bring them in, you have them face off and you try to figure who you think could be world champions. I mean, we did it with 'TUF,' we've done it with 'Looking for a Fight,' and obviously the Contender Series has been huge and that's what I'm into."

Check out Dana White's plans for boxing (3:37 and 5:00):

Now, years later, White is tasked with promoting one of the biggest fights ever, possibly even more-so than Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, which raked in 2.4 million pay-per-view buys at UFC 229.

Dana White co-promoted a big boxing match in the past

Back in 2017, Dana White greenlit a crossover fight between Conor McGregor, the then UFC lightweight champion, and Floyd Mayweather Jr., the undefeated, five-division boxing world champion. Such a fight was once thought to be impossible, as White always refused to entertain the possibility of his fighters boxing.

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The great Anderson Silva had previously expressed an interest in boxing Roy Jones Jr., and the UFC CEO was never on board with it. However, the bout between McGregor and Mayweather Jr. was a massive financial success, drawing 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, though McGregor was ultimately TKO'd in round 10.

About the author

Ricardo has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda for the past 2 years, having previously worked for The Sportster. In his time at Sportskeeda, the kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner has penned over 2000 articles, including five exclusive pieces, and raked in more than 4 million views. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Ricardo’s earliest memory of becoming an MMA fan dates back to 2009 when Lyoto Machida defeated Rashad Evans in the headlining bout of UFC 98. His Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters includes Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, and Alexander Volkanovski.

Ricardo aspires to be at the forefront of covering MMA soon by becoming a part of discussion panels that conduct pre-fight predictions, post-fight breakdowns, and fantasy fight breakdowns. His articles are supported by extensive research and double checking of information via multiple sources.

Beyond work, Ricardo likes to write and draw.

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Edited by Ricardo Viagem