After going up against each other in previous years, Dana White is now set to work with Canelo Alvarez in the coming months for one of the biggest fights of the year.
Turki Alalshikh confirmed the news that on September 12 in Las Vegas, TKO Boxing launches with Alvarez vs Crawford at the Allegiant Stadium.
Though White and Alvarez see eye-to-eye on some subjects, the UFC has had to go up against the Mexican star several times in the past.
The last time that two of the biggest combat sports draws happened to be running shows on the same date was just last September.
UFC Noche at the Sphere was certainly an event to remember but it only came around after the promotion were dealt a bad hand.
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Dana White ranted about MGM after they gave the T-Mobile Arena to Canelo Alvarez last September
The UFC’s debut at the Sphere was an incredible spectacle but Dana White made it perfectly clear that putting on a show like this wasn’t his original plan.
In 2023, the MMA leader held the first Noche UFC event at the T-Mobile arena during Mexican Independence Day weekend with the promotion hoping to continue this tradition.
MGM executives had other plans after they gave that date to boxing promoter Al Heymon for Canelo Alvarez’s clash with Edgar Berlanga without the UFC finding out.
As a result, UFC 306 took place on the same night with White openly speaking about the costs of producing the first of it’s kind event.
In a press conference following the August 27 episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, the UFC president revealed that the people who run the T-Mobile Arena have “disrespected” the promotion for years, stating that the blame doesn’t fall on Al Haymon’s promotion.
White claimed that a documentary would be coming out that would go into detail about all of the issues they’ve had with MGM over the years, clarifying that he hoped to return to their regular Las Vegas destination with the Sphere being a one and done event.
“Hayman and Canelo are just doing their thing. Props to them. Good for them that you guys could actually slide in and steal the date from us that easily without a phone call, without anything.
“Good for you. I would too if that’s what I could do. Right? But, that’s just a sliver of the disrespect that these guys at the arena have shown us over the last however many years. It’s crazy.”
Canelo Alvarez and the UFC will now go back-to-back with Dana White involved in both
Following the confirmation that TKO Boxing will be involved in the promotion of Canelo Alvarez vs Terrence Crawford, September is set to be a very busy month for Dana White.
With arguably the biggest boxing match of the year taking place at Allegiant Stadium on Friday, September 12, the UFC will host Noche UFC 3 the following night.
UFC 320 will see the Octagon arrive at the newly built Arena Guadalajara for the first time with the two previous instalments both taking place in Las Vegas.
After years of potentially going up against Alvarez, White will now play a major part in putting on a huge double bill alongside the biggest star in boxing.