Even before Chris Billam-Smith’s brutal fight with Ryan Rozicki and grueling hometown victory, Dana White was already left ‘pumped’ by the early success of Zuffa Boxing’s first show on British soil.
Zuffa Boxing 07 was the promotion’s first outside the US, where those watching from a packed Bournemouth International Center or live on Sky Sports were treated to explosive knockouts, dramatic finishes and two ‘fight of the year’ contestants from the co-main events.
Alex MacMillan, Sam Hickey and Leon Hughes enhanced their credentials by all maintaining 100 per cent records as professionals with knockout wins, before Stephen McKenna marked his return from a 539-day absence by taking just 64 seconds to blast his opponent out.
Cheavon Clarke’s remarkable come-from-behind win against Jack Massey – where he recovered from being knocked down twice in the fourth round to stop his compatriot in the seventh – looked tough for the better, only for Billam-Smith to beat Rozicki in a fight that White likened to a ‘Rocky movie’.
“I’m never looking to make a statement, I just want to fight good fights,” White said in his post-show press conference. “When we go somewhere and people buy tickets and come live and when people watch TV, I want them to turn off their TV or walk out of the arena happy they came to the games.
“I want to build confidence with the fans that when we roll into town, or we’re on TV Saturday night or Sunday, or when we’re on, we’re going to deliver.
“Tonight was fantastic. The UK is driving boxing right now. For us to come into the UK and put on an event like tonight, we’re pretty pumped.”
Both Billam-Smith and Rozicki were sent to hospital as a precaution after their classic encounter in which both traded heavy shots and momentum swung both ways, with the bruising contest only ending when the Canadian’s corner pulled him out at the end of the seventh round.
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The Sky Sports Boxing commentary team watch in disbelief as Ryan Rozicki takes some big shots from opponent Chris Billam-Smith in their Zuffa Boxing 07 main event
“We know how talented CBS is [Billam-Smith] is and we knew going in how tough and mean Rozicki was, so it had all the makings of a great fight,” White explained.
“In the sixth round in particular, Billam-Smith seemed to land an awful lot of punches to Rozicki. I was surprised to see him [Rozicki] come out again? No, but I was happy to see his corner call.
“What a hell of a fight. An incredible fight from top to bottom, but the main event was like a Rocky movie.”
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Chris Billam-Smith’s trainer Shane McGuigan was full of praise for Ryan Rozicki, who was pulled out after the seventh round of his grueling contest against Billam-Smith
‘Lots of Big Announcements Coming’ – What Now for Zuffa Boxing?
White – the UFC’s long-time figurehead – and WWE president and TKO board member Nick Khan were both ringside for Zuffa Boxing’s UK debut, with new signing Conor Benn and several other British boxers in attendance.
Zuffa Boxing already has three events confirmed over the coming months, with Las Vegas (June 28) followed by promotions in New York (July 26) and Dublin (August 8), with White confirming that further shows and signings are still unannounced.
Dana White celebrates during Zuffa’s historic British fight night in Bournemouth
“Obviously, I’m honored that a lot of these guys showed up to see our event,” White said. “My goal in the next few years is to have everybody. Everybody.”
He later added: “I’ve said to everyone, on January 1 – judge us on the work we’ve done this year. We’ve got a lot of big announcements coming up over the next month, so you can expect a lot of big things coming from us.
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Dana White spoke earlier this year of his ambition for Zuffa Boxing to make the best possible fights with the best possible fighters
“That’s what I want to do with the sport, not just a few shows. Great matchmaking, put fight cards on like tonight [Bournemouth] – that’s the goal.
“What starts to happen is when we tear the sport apart and start building from the ground up with nights like tonight, it starts to create all these different stories and starts to set up different matchups. The fans and the media start talking about what they want to see next.
“We have a Sky deal which is a very big deal for us so we’ll be in the UK a lot. We’re five months into this thing and we’re already adding more shows on our Paramount deal and I hope the same happens with Sky.”
White downplayed any suggestion of a future head-to-head show with rival promoters, such as those created between Queensberry and Matchroom fighters, although he remains open to exploring new ways to continue their growth in boxing and compete with the sport’s biggest leagues.
“Without sounding arrogant, people always ask me ‘oh, you’re competing with this guy.’ At the level we’re at, we’re competing with the NFL, we’re competing with the NBA, we’re competing with Major League Baseball and with the NHL,” White insisted.
Dana White followed all the action in Bournemouth
“In the U.S., the powerhouse over there is the NFL. When you go outside the U.S., you start competing with football. When I think about my competition, that’s who I look at as competition these days.”
Zuffa Boxing delivered a card that offered everything they set out to achieve, with much more to come.
Zuffa Boxing shows are scheduled in Las Vegas on June 28 and New York on July 26 ahead of their first Irish show in Dublin on August 8, with all three live and exclusive in the UK and Ireland on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream boxing without a contract.