Dana White is going to have an incredibly busy 2026.
Over the past few years, White has made a concerted effort to expand his combat sports brand beyond just MMA. White’s pet project, Power Slap, was the first such initiative, but he also started UFC BJJ this year and has a planned expansion into boxing set for next year. That coincides with the UFC’s new 7-year $7.7 billion TV rights deal with Paramount, and means White is going to have his hands full come January.
“If you look at what we’re doing right now, next year, with the Paramount deal, we’re going to do 44 events, between Fight Nights and numbered Pay-Per-View events,” White told the IMPAULSIVE podcast. “I’m going to do 12 Power Slap events next year. We’re going to do 14 [UFC] BJJ events.
“And then the new boxing deal I’m working on for 2026 — think about this, boxing isn’t on TV right now. Nobody has a TV deal. They’re doing some DAZN fights. I’ll end up nailing down a television deal for boxing, and we’ll do 16 or 18 boxing events next year.”
All told, that’s between 86 and 88 events White will oversee next year, not including Contender Series, which currently holds 10 events, though White has suggested that number could double.
And that’s not to mention the extra special one-off UFC White House event being planned for next summer. An event of that magnitude requires special focus, which is why White has already gotten the ball rolling on the logistics and vision of the whole thing.
“It will be live and free on CBS from the White House,” White said.
“… We’re building this arch, almost like the St. Louis arch, and the lighting grid will go above the octagon, so when we shoot this fight, this whole backdrop will be the White House. Then, when the cameras move over and fight this way, it’s all the Washington Monument on this side. Then there’s a park that’s sort of connected to the White House. We’ll have 85,000 people there with big screens, and we’re going to do concerts, we’re going to do UFC X there. We’re going to take over D.C. the whole week.”
It’s a big event for an even bigger year for the UFC, but White has the utmost confidence in his team to pull it all off.
“You have to build a great team,” White said. “No one guy does anything themselves. You have to build a great team, and you have to create the vision for what you’re building and what you want to do. Then the people that work with you either buy into that or they don’t. And the people that do, you have a team like I have a team.
“My production team now is so dialed in, usually when they come to me with spots and stuff that we do, rarely are there changes, if ever. This is a very well-oiled machine.”