Dana White has teased his potential involvement in a takeover of the boxing world that could be similar to the UFC.

For all intents and purposes, White has a monopoly over the MMA world with almost all of the best fighters in the world signing for his promotion. In fact, a large portion of casual viewers aren’t aware of the sport’s real name, with many simply referring to it as UFC.

And after years of dipping his toe into various boxing endeavors, the renowned promoter could be set to make his biggest move yet in the sport. Saudi Arabian adviser Turki Alalshikh has been taking over the boxing world, and is reportedly keen to bring the UFC model to the sport in order to make big fights.

Saudi Arabian adviser Turki Alalshikh plots boxing takeover akin to the UFC

The UFC’s dominance over MMA has long been the envy of boxing promoters, who have struggled to get the biggest fights over the line in recent years. But with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh taking the reigns over the past year with Riyadh Season, the major events are now being made with ease.

There is an unthinkable amount of money in the pot for Saudi super-fights, and the pace at which they work has seen a number of major events take place since October. This means that promoters have been able to work together who normally would have irreconcilable differences.

Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn and Queensberry’s Frank Warren famously had never met in decades of working opposite each other due to an intense family feud. But they are now thick as thieves and recently held a major ‘5v5’ event in which they pitted their fighters against one another.

There has long been a belief that the monopoly the UFC holds over MMA means that fights are made easier, given that Dana White’s promotion have all of the best fighters and a clear ranking system, as well as owning the belts that are recognised as the elite in the sport.

Photo by Mohammed Saad/Anadolu via Getty Images

And a report from Reuters this week detailed how the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, headed by Turki Alalshikh, plans to emulate his model with a league that would bring all of the major promoters together under one $4-5billion roof.

At the moment, all of the major promoters have different fighters who lay claim to world titles from the four recognised governing bodies; WBA, WBO, IBF and WBC. But there have been a number of unifications recently, with now eight divisions across men and women having undisputed champions.

Just last month, for the first time since the turn of the millennium the heavyweight division was unified. Oleksandr Usyk, who had already completed the feat at cruiserweight, defeated Tyson Fury to unify all four belts in an historic moment, with Riyadh Season offering him one ‘undisputed’ belt.

Dana White teases involvement in new $4-5billion Saudi Arabian boxing takeover

The likes of Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions are reported by Reuters to be involved in league talks. And it is expected that the valuation for this new league which would bring all major promoters together could be in the region of $4-5billion.

At its core the league concept sounds very similar to the UFC, or professional wrestling’s WWE. In the latter’s case, promoter Vince McMahon Jr gathered up all of the smaller regional ‘territories’ towards the end of the the 20th century and turned his company into a global powerhouse.

The massive monopolistic rule that both UFC and WWE hold has made both companies very valuable. They merged under the TKO Group banner earlier this year, with the former valued around $12billion and the latter in the region of $7billion.

And Dana White, who was at the heart of the MMA supremo’s rise to prominence, has teased that he might finally submerge himself into his first love boxing with this new league. Speaking with Sports Business Journal he refused to be drawn too much, but admitted that he could be involved.

“Hmm. It’s a possibility,” White told SBJ when asked about partnering with Turki Alalshikh, with whom he is working on a first UFC show next week in Riyadh. “It’s definitely a possibility… I think he’s the only one who can do it. This guy is making fights no one else can make.”