Dana White recently said that “anything can happen” when it comes to Oleksandr Usyk’s potential farewell fight against Deontay Wilder landing on the Zuffa Boxing platform. It is the first time the UFC president has publicly addressed the possibility.
Speaking on Sunday night, White twice repeated the line with a smile when asked whether Usyk vs. Wilder could be staged under his banner.
The speculation has been building since Friday, when Usyk relinquished his IBF, WBC and WBA heavyweight titles to focus on what has been billed as a “last dance.”
Eddie Hearn and others have suggested that final outing will come against veteran Wilder, and now White has left the door open to hosting it.
White made the comments against the backdrop of his ongoing feud with rival promoters and a planned summit with Hearn and Saudi financier Turki Alalshikh. He insisted he is unbothered by the friction.
I don’t know what our issues would be, I’m good,” White said. “Listen, if Eddie was here, I’d talk to Eddie. I don’t have any problems. I told you guys, a couple of times now… we are not the same, none of the other guys matter to me.
Dana White Holds Firm On Joshua-Fury Claims
White also refused to back down from his repeated assertions that he knows where a potential Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury showdown would take place.
Hearn had claimed last week that White had his “bum smacked” by Alalshikh for publicly insisting he knew all the details, but White showed no signs of retreating.
Let’s see what Turki says at the summit… I have all the info… Like I told you guys back in Bournemouth [on June 8], I know where it is and never did I say it was in Las Vegas,” White said.
Hearn has previously dismissed White as “just an employee” and accused him of overstepping his authority, while also pointing to contract clauses he says shut White out of the all-British heavyweight clash. Fury’s camp has likewise pushed back on White’s promotional role.
Hearn, at the request of Alalshikh, has said he will head this week to a “summit” attended by both White and the Saudi financier in an effort to settle the growing divide between Matchroom and Zuffa. Whether that meeting clarifies anything on Joshua-Fury or Usyk-Wilder remains to be seen.