UFC and WWE Parent Launches Saudi-Backed Boxing League

TKO Group Holdings Inc., already a significant force in combat sports, is expanding its presence and moving into boxing. 

The parent company of World Wrestling Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship has completed a multiyear agreement with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority and Sela, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, to create a new boxing league. The promotion would seek to take on other major boxing promoters including Golden Boy Promotions, Top Rank, and Matchroom Boxing. 

TKO will be the managing partner of the joint venture, leading day-to-day operations and management. The first event from the new promotion is targeted for 2026. UFC president Dana White and WWE president Nick Khan will oversee the executive leadership of the boxing effort.

Over the past generation, boxing has struggled to maintain the type of mainstream prominence it had through much of the 20th century. TKO is looking to change that, in part through a significant jolt of Saudi resources. The deal will see TKO working closely with HE Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi General Entertainment Authority chair. 

“This is a strategic opportunity to reimagine the sport of boxing globally,” said TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro. “TKO has the deep expertise, promotional prowess, and long-standing relationships. HE Turki Alalshikh and Sela share our passion and vision for evolving the current model. Together, we can bring the sweet science back to its rightful place in the forefront of the global sports ecosystem.”

Financial terms were not disclosed, but last week Shapiro said the pact would see TKO receiving an initial fee of “$10 million-plus.” The pact, however, also contemplates the development of combines and academies to develop new boxers, and access for those athletes to the existing UFC Performance Institute. 

“We’re not putting any money in, we’re not putting any capital in, we’re not on the hook for any [costs],” Shapiro said in a recent TKO earnings call.

The move also extends a fast-growing role for Saudi Arabia in global sports that already has the country heavily involved in golf, Formula One, soccer, and through TKO, mixed martial arts, and pro wrestling. Those moves have prompted repeated claims of “sportswashing” as a means to deflect attention from human rights abuses in the country. 

For TKO, meanwhile, the formal entry into boxing closely follows the completion of a $3.25 billion deal to bring On Location, Professional Bull Riders, and IMG into the company, as well as a recent move to create a multi-event “TKO Takeover” in Kansas City involving WWE, UFC, and PBR.