What’s next for Zuffa Boxing after the UK debut? Dana White celebrates Bournemouth schedule and teases ‘big announcements’ to come | Debate News
Even before Chris Billam-Smith’s tough fight with Ryan Rozicki and his hometown victory, Dana White was already ‘overwhelmed’ by the success of Zuffa Boxing’s first UK show.
Zuffa Boxing 07 was the promotion’s first outside of the United States, with those watching from the packed Bournemouth International Center or live on Sky Sports treated to fireworks, dramatic finishes and two ‘fights of the year’ contenders from the main events.
Alex MacMillan, Sam Hickey and Leon Hughes improved their records by maintaining 100 per cent records as professionals to win, before Stephen McKenna marked his return from a 539-day absence by taking 64 seconds to blast his opponent.
Cheavon Clarke’s stunning victory against Jack Massey – where he recovered from two knockdowns in the fourth round to stop his teammates in the seventh – proved hard to top, only for Billam-Smith to beat Rozicki in a fight White compared to ‘the Rocky movies’.
“I’ve never made a statement, I want to fight big fights,” White said in a press conference after the show. “When we go to a place and people buy tickets and enter live, and when people watch on TV, I want them to turn off their TV or leave the stadium happy that they came to the fights.
“I want to strengthen the trust of the fans that when we go into town, whether we are on TV on Saturday night or Sunday or whenever we play, we will deliver.
“Tonight was great. The UK is running boxing at the moment. To come into the UK and do an event like tonight, we’re really excited.”
Both Billam-Smith and Rozicki were sent to the hospital as a precaution after their previous encounter, where both traded heavy shots and the momentum changed on both sides, the contest ended in injuries when the corner of the Canadian knocked him out at the end of the seventh round.
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The Sky Sports Boxing panel of commentators watched in disbelief as Ryan Rozicki beat rival Chris Billam-Smith in their main event at Zuffa Boxing 07.
“We know how talented CBS is [Billam-Smith] and we knew how tough Rozicki was, so it was all a big fight,” White explained.
“In that sixth round, Billam-Smith seemed to have lost badly to Rozicki. I was surprised to see him. [Rozicki] come back out? No, but I was happy to see his phone in the corner.
“What a fight. Amazing fight from top to bottom, but the main event was like a Rocky movie.”
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Chris Billam-Smith’s trainer, Shane McGuigan, has heaped praise on Ryan Rozicki, who was knocked out after the seventh round of his tough fight against Billam-Smith.
‘Many big announcements to come’ – what’s next for Zuffa Boxing?
White – long-serving UFC leader – and WWE president and TKO board member Nick Khan were both involved in Zuffa Boxing’s UK debut, with new signing Conor Benn and other British boxers in attendance.
Zuffa Boxing already has three events confirmed in the coming months, with Las Vegas (June 28) followed by promotions in New York (July 26) and Dublin (August 8), with White confirming that more shows and signings are still to be announced.
Dana White celebrates Zuffa’s UK fight night in Bournemouth
“I’m happy that a lot of these guys showed up to watch our event,” said White. “My goal for the next few years is to be with everybody. Everybody.”
He later added: “I’ve been saying to everyone, January 1 – judge us by the work we’ve done this year. We’ve got a lot of big announcements coming next month, so you can expect a lot of big things from us.
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Dana White said earlier this year about his desire for Zuffa Boxing to make the best fights and the best fights.
“That’s what I want to do with sports, not just a few matches. To make good matches, put on fight cards like tonight. [Bournemouth] – that’s the goal.
“The first thing that happens is that since we are demolishing this game, we start building from the ground up until the night like today, we start building all these different stories and we plan different battles.
“We have a Sky deal, which is huge for us, so we’ll be in the UK a lot. We’re five months into this and we’ve already added more shows to our Paramount deal and I hope the same thing happens with Sky.”
White played down any suggestion of a future head-to-head show with rival promoters, such as those created between Queensberry and Matchroom fighters, although he remains open to exploring new ways to continue their growth in boxing and compete with the sport’s major leagues.
“Without sounding too arrogant, people always ask me ‘oh, are you competing with this guy’. At the level we’re at, we’re competing with the NFL, we’re competing with the NBA, we’re competing with Major League Baseball and the NHL,” White emphasized.
Dana White followed the action across Bournemouth
“In the United States, the powerhouse over there is the NFL. When you go outside the United States, you start competing with soccer. When I think about my competition, those are the people I consider competition these days.”
Zuffa Boxing delivered a card that delivered everything they set out to achieve, with more to come.
Zuffa Boxing are scheduled for Las Vegas on June 28 and New York on July 26 before their first Irish show in Dublin on August 8, with all three live and exclusive in the UK and Ireland on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or broadcast boxing without a contract.
