Zuffa Boxing has made three mistakes so far despite having “done well” in 2026 having launched its long-awaited live events business.
That’s according to Michael ‘Mick’ Conlan, who returns to the ring Friday atop a MF Pro event at the SSE Arena in Belfast on DAZN.
Zuffa, led by TKO Group executives like Nick Khan and UFC boss Dana White, has held four boxing events so far this year from its small hall TV studio in Las Vegas called Meta APEX. It has also developed an interesting roster featuring big names like Jai Opetaia and Conor Benn to go along with red hot prospect boxers like Robert Meriwether III and Jalil Hackett.
But, for Conlan, there have been mistakes made along the way. And he detailed them Tuesday when speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show via Uncrowned on Yahoo Sports.
“I don’t rate the uniform outfits and think that takes away from boxing a bit,” he said.
For Conlan, “Boxing has always been about everyone dressed up, looking glam in the ring, whether it’s [Prince Naseem Hamed] with his leopard print shorts. To make it uniform, I think that’s where they’re making mistakes.”
But it’s not the only possible error made, he said.
“It looks like the money has been good, but that depends on how long Turki [Alalshikh] lasts with Dana before he leaves him.”
And that then leaves the product itself.
“The shows have not been the greatest.”
“But they’re only starting,” he said, offering a pass as the upstart fight firm finds its feet. “It won’t be the finished article straight away. They are trying to make big plays, but it will take time.”
When Helwani asked Conlan to elaborate on the point about money, Conlan added: “If you look at the relationships with Eddie [Hearn] and Frank [Warren] over the years, they’ve built up and broke apart.
“It’s how long Turki wants to stay around,” Conlan said. “He’s the guy in control, he has the money. He can dictate what he wants and if decides, one day, I don’t want to do this no more, then it ends for most of them, I think.”
Watch Conlan on The Ariel Helwani Show right here:
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