Alistair Overeem Believes Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing Push Could Change Boxing for the Worse
Alistair Overeem is interested in boxing again, but he is not sold on Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing project being good for the sport over time. The former UFC heavyweight contender says White’s style could bring short-term attention while limiting the freedom he values from his years competing across MMA, K-1 and kickboxing.
Overeem signed with the UFC in October 2011, when Lorenzo Fertitta was still leading the company alongside White. He says he dealt more with Fertitta and never formed a working relationship with White during his decade in the promotion.
“When I signed with them, it was October 2011. So this is a whole different era,” Overeem said, speaking with Playbook Boxing YouTube and Betway. “I signed with his superior, Lorenzo Fertitta. So I didn’t have a relationship with Dana, and nor did we ever build it.”
Fertitta and his partners sold the UFC to Endeavor in 2016, a deal that left White in control of day-to-day operations. Overeem remained with the UFC for another five years, but said the situation did not change. “We never sat down, we never really spoke about anything. So there is no relationship,” he said.
The Dutch veteran would have preferred a direct line to White. “Of course,” he said when asked if that access would have helped. Overeem fought his last UFC bout in February 2021, losing to Alexander Volkov, before returning to kickboxing and defeating Badr Hari in 2022.
Alistair Overeem Questions Dana White’s Long-Term Impact on Boxing
His view comes from a career built across several promotions. Overeem became Strikeforce and DREAM champion before winning the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix, and he said being able to compete in different places helped shape his rise.
“My rise came during the multi-promotions era,” Overeem said. “You can fight often, you kind of negotiate as you go. For me, that was very good.”
Overeem sees boxing’s mix of promoters, belts, showmanship and Saudi-backed events as a feature rather than a problem. He believes the UFC’s single-promotion model gave him access to important fights but took away part of the experience.
“The last 10 years I was only with the UFC and not much else was happening,” Overeem said. “It was a little bit boring, I would have to say. It was less coloured.”
He pointed to entrances as one example. Overeem often experimented with walkout music and props in Japan, including carrying hammers to the ring, but said that room disappeared in the UFC. “I was always playing around with my entrance and the music,” he said. “But then in the UFC we couldn’t do anything. It was literally just walk to the ring.”
Overeem is now preparing for a possible boxing comeback after training with Oleksandr Usyk’s team. Usyk stopped Rico Verhoeven in the 11th round in May, though Verhoeven had kept the contest close at the Pyramids of Giza and was ahead on one official scorecard when the bout ended with one second left in the round.
That experience has added another name to Overeem’s potential boxing options, alongside Francis Ngannou. But he remains wary of a Zuffa Boxing expansion that mirrors the UFC structure.
“It’s okay he’s in the boxing world, but in the long run, I don’t think he’s going to be good for boxing,” Overeem said. “It’s good for the short run, it’s good for the mid run, long run – no. Because it can become too dominant and then you’re gonna see creativity go down if Zuffa Boxing keeps expanding. You’re actually seeing that in MMA right now. The creativity, the events, the amount of fighters that you are choosing from. The heavyweight division in the UFC is not very deep, right? And through the years it was always very deep.”
Overeem believes a dominant promoter could reduce the variety that has drawn him back toward boxing. “I think it kills creativity,” he said. “The boxing world, it’s a very exciting landscape. UFC doesn’t motivate me. Even to watch, it doesn’t motivate me.”
