Paramount and TKO Group Holdings on Monday announced the latter’s long-awaited expansion into boxing with Paramount+ becoming the exclusive broadcasting home of Zuffa Boxing throughout North America. As part of a long-term media rights agreement, Paramount+ will air Zuffa boxing 12 cards in 2026 — select events to be simulcast on CBS — with additional cards expected to be added in subsequent years.
Zuffa Boxing, the promotion formed in March by TKO and Saudi Arabia entertainment conglomerate Sela, is helmed by UFC president Dana White and WWE president Nick Khan in partnership with Sela CEO Dr. Rakhan Alharty and Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the general entertainment authority and president of the Saudi Boxing Federation.
“This partnership with Paramount reinforces our vision to redefine the way viewers consume boxing,” Alalshikh said. “More fight fans will now have access to watch some of the most exciting boxers around. We have seen the proof that the appetite is there, this is the future for live boxing coverage and will ensure the sport continues to thrive.”
Alalshikh, who purchased “The Ring” magazine in 2024 and almost immediately debuted a boxing series of the same name, has been instrumental in the funding and promotion of boxing’s biggest events in recent years, including the Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez superfight at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas earlier this month, the de facto soft launch of Zuffa Boxing.
“Timing is everything and the timing was perfect,” White told CBS Sports. “I met [Alalshikh] two years ago, and off of our first meeting, I had less-than-zero intent on getting into boxing. As I got to get to know him, he’s obviously very passionate about the sport. He loves it and the boxing fights that have been made since he got into the sport would have never been done in a million years.
“I’m excited to put great boxing matches on TV again. There are millions of boxing fans that will now be able to watch competitive fights with up-and-coming boxers, as well as the biggest stars in the sport. Paramount will be the home for UFC and boxing fans to watch the greatest fights in combat sports.”
TKO, the parent company of UFC and WWE, last month signed a seven-year deal making Paramount+ the exclusive distributor of all UFC numbered and “Fight Night” events.
According to White, Zuffa Boxing will serve as a proving ground — matching rising prospects against one another in 50/50 fights — to create the stars of tomorrow that will one day appear on Alalshikh’s “The Ring” and Riyadh Season events. If the model sounds similar to what UFC did with its integral launch of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality TV show in 2005, that’s by design. Many “TUF” alumni went on to become UFC champions, including Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping, Kamaru Usman, Rose Namajunas and TJ Dillashaw.
“When you think about the UFC and where we came from, it’s hard for people to really wrap their heads around how humble the beginnings were,” White said. “We are going to start [Zuffa Boxing] from the ground up on the Paramount platform and matchmake great fights with guys who should be fighting each other at a young point in their career, and you start to build a relationship with the fans and they start to trust your product. Whatever night it lands on, it’s destination TV, and people want to be there and people want to see it.”
White, a former trainer and aspiring boxing manager in the late 1990s, was part of the Zuffa LLC company that purchased UFC in 2001 before its 2016 sale to current owner Endeavor. He helped build UFC into what quickly became the global leader in MMA promotion by focusing on “all the things that I loved and hated about boxing.”
White expects to do the same within the sweet science at a time when boxing openly lacks structure. He has not been shy saying he’s modeling Zuffa Boxing after the former USA Network cult favorite “Tuesday Night Fights,” which aired from 1982-98.
While the exact details of Zuffa Boxing’s format are still being decided, White expects a reduction from the 17 weight divisions that exist in boxing. Furthermore, he aims to distance the sport from the current four-belt championship system operated by recognized sanctioning bodies WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF.
To help see that plan through, allowing Zuffa Boxing to create both an in-house rankings system and its own championships, TKO has led the charge for an amendment of the “Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act,” which was enacted in 2000. The proposed adjustments, which have received bipartisan support, are expected to be presented in front of Congress later this year despite vocal criticism from some within the sport.
Not only did White say Zuffa Boxing will launch regardless of whether the changes are approved, he maintains that the hullabaloo is overstated.
“There will be zero changes to the Muhammad Ali Act. Not one word will be changed; we are going to add on to it,” White said. “So, the fighters who want to fight under the Muhammad Ali Act exactly the way it is will have that opportunity to do that, or you can bet on me and fight with me under our version of the Muhammad Ali Act. That thing has been blown out of proportion, and I get it I knew people were going to freak out because that’s what people do. The Muhammad Ali Act was put in place with all good intentions, but I think that it has held the business back.”
White believes Zuffa Boxing can provide a shot in the arm to an American boxing market that has underdelivered in recent years. As he considers Zuffa Boxing its own independent league as much as a promotion, one should not expect White to consider co-promoting fights with the sport’s incumbent powers.
“I live in my own little bubble; I’m going to do my thing,” he said. “I’m not worried about what any of those guys are doing, and to be honest, those guys don’t think big enough. These guys have been in the business for however long, and I think all of those guys think small. They don’t think the way that I think. I’m not competing with the other promoters; I’m competing with whatever takes the attention of the fans on the night that we are on television.
“Some people say I can save [boxing], and some people say I’m the worst thing to ever happen to it. I have absolutely zero ego going into this thing because I know how messed up the sport is. I have a plan, I started to build a team, and I’m going to put my head down and grind like I do for the next couple of years and we will see where we end up.
“I am very optimistic about this.”
Paramount, a Skydance corporation, is the parent company of CBS Sports.