UFC boss Dana White wants to see improvements following last night’s first ever Zuffa Boxing event.
For the longest time now, Dana White has been talking about launching his own operation in the world of professional boxing. It’s taken many years for him to get it off the ground, but Zuffa Boxing finally held its first official event last night. There were some highlights, and there were some problems, but that’s to be expected when you’re only just starting to dip your toe into the water.
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White has always been something of a perfectionist and when it comes to the actual events, he’s the first person to admit when something goes wrong or something isn’t quite right. Dana is eager to prove himself on the boxing stage, and regardless of whether or not he pulls it off, he’s certainly going to give it a good go.
In the post-fight press conference, White had the following to say about how the event played out.
White looks back at first Zuffa Boxing event
“We know a lot more than we knew then. Am I absolutely thrilled with our first one? No. We have a lot of work to do this year. Tonight was a solid night. The fights were great, and watch what we do over the next year. We’re just going to get better and better and better.”
“I have a whole list of stuff that we’ll go through on Monday, meaning me and the team,” he said. “But, like I’ve been saying, it took 25 years to get the UFC where it is today and it is a very well oiled machine. We’ll do it in much less time on the boxing side.
“I was on the phone more than I’m usually on the phone… Nothing really bad, but it’s just, I have a certain [vision]. I know where I want this to be, and I’m impatient. We’re building a whole new team here and a lot of people have never done this before so it’s going to take some time.
“But one of the things that we wanted to do, and what we did a great job of, was if you watch this at home on TV, they don’t feel like you were in the Apex. You don’t see any UFC stuff. It’s all Zuffa Boxing, Paramount, you know? We literally transformed the Apex into what looked like a different arena tonight.”
Quotes via Bloody Elbow
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