Dana White gets rare praise from Ariel Helwani – Sports News
Ariel Helwani paid a rare praise to UFC boss Dana White as TKO Group appears set to launch a new boxing league.
White has struck an settlement with Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s common leisure authority, who has led the nation’s wealthy investment into boxing during the last couple of years. The new league shall be operated by TKO, which owns the UFC and WWE – and all three promotions might function on the identical card.
White’s UFC revolutionized fight sports activities by making use of a league system to MMA. Fighters had been signed to long-term unique offers, whereas the promotion had its own rankings and world title.
It appears White is trying to apply the identical strategy to boxing – and Helwani is a large fan of the transfer. Helwani is probably probably the most famend fight sports activities journalist on the earth, however he shares a frosty relationship with White after the pair clashed during his time as a beat UFC reporter.
Despite unhealthy blood between the 2, Helwani is full of praise for White and TKO’s entry into boxing. Ultimately, the 42-year-old believes boxing has fallen behind combined martial arts due to the archaic use of numerous promoters and governing our bodies fairly than a single entity.
“I understand what they’re doing. It’s going to take some time [but] there has never been, ever… a group that has come into combat sports with this power and this kind of money behind it,” Helwani mentioned. “They have limitless funds.
“Those limitless funds are telling sensible minds like Dana White, Nick Khan, ‘Here you go, run it for us.’ There has by no means been a scenario like this.
“If they do not succeed, will probably be as a result of of one thing internally… however they’re set up to succeed off the soar. Netflix, ESPN proper there for the taking.
Given the potential construction of the imaginative and prescient, White has hinted that there shall be a single belt for every weight class very similar to the UFC. This would look to surpass the 4 main world titles – the WBA, WBO, IBF, and WBC – in phrases of worth and prominence.
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It shall be fascinating to see how White and TKO navigate potential challenges that come up. For instance, MMA within the United States shouldn’t be coated by the 2000 Ali Act and Professional Boxing Safety Act 1996, which serves as a legal guideline for limiting the quantity of time fighters might be signed to a promotion.
This might complicate issues for White and the boxing league going ahead. But for now, Helwani – and followers all over the world – are excited as the game is set to get redefined.
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