Dana White is doing two shows on Saturday, and he thinks one of them could produce boxing’s next headline act.
White oversees Noche UFC at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, then flies to Las Vegas for Ryan Garcia against Conor Benn at T-Mobile Arena. He told TMZ he is not picking between them.
I’m goin’ to both.
The calendar was built around that. Noche UFC starts unusually early, with prelims at 2 PM ET and the main card at 5 PM ET, so the two do not overlap. Both stream on Paramount+.
The bigger question was whether a win turns Garcia into the face of the sport. White thinks it depends on how the win looks.
Yeah, I mean, I think if he goes in there and wins impressively, there’s no doubt about it.
He has been watching that audience for a while.
I remember before I got into boxing, my kids never really watched boxing. So I remember one night I was like, ‘Hey, what are you guys doing?’ He was living in San Diego, going to school, and he’s like, ‘I got a bunch of guys over. We’re watching the Ryan Garcia fight tonight.’ So Ryan Garcia and Tank Davis sort of broke through with the younger demo at that time.
That was April 2023, when Gervonta Davis stopped Garcia with a body shot in the seventh round. A rematch has been floated ever since, though Davis has his own situation to resolve. He has fought once since June 2024, the WBA named him champion in recess over pending legal proceedings, and his coach said this week that he is not expected back until early 2027.
Garcia weighed 145.5lbs on Friday and Benn 146lbs, both clearing the welterweight limit after a week in which the cut was the story.
