Dana White Explains Why He Let Shakur Stevenson Walk from Zuffa Boxing
White says he offered Stevenson the release after just a couple months together, and the boxer's team accepted.
Dana White addressed the Shakur Stevenson situation at the UFC 333 post-fight press conference on Saturday, offering his side of the split that ended Zuffa Boxing's partnership with the former two-division champion before a single fight took place.
"I have nothing bad to say about him or his team, but I offered him the release, and they accepted," White told reporters, per Sherdog.
When pressed on the brevity of the arrangement, White emphasized just how short-lived it was. "Well, we never even did one fight with the guy. We were in business with him for a couple months," he said.
A reporter asked White why Stevenson could walk freely while UFC fighters who request releases remain locked into their contracts. White pointed to the nature of the relationship but declined to elaborate further. He did not give a specific reason for ending the partnership and would not say whether Stevenson or his team had been difficult to work with.
Stevenson's manager has already opened talks with DAZN about the boxer's next move, as previously reported. Meanwhile, Top Rank has petitioned the WBO to make Raymond Muratalla the mandatory challenger for Stevenson's WBO junior lightweight title.
The split leaves Stevenson as one of boxing's most talented free agents. He holds the WBO belt at 130 pounds and has the kind of resume that makes him a premium signing for any promoter willing to meet his terms.
Here's what Dana isn't saying: this didn't work because the UFC doesn't know how to promote boxers.
Zuffa Boxing signed Stevenson with big plans, and within two months they couldn't even get a fight made. That's not on Shakur. The UFC machine is built for MMA, and dropping a boxer into that system was always going to be awkward. Dana offering the release was him cutting his losses before it got embarrassing.
The more interesting question is the one that reporter asked: why does Shakur get to walk while UFC fighters are stuck? Dana dodged it, and of course he did. There's no good answer. The UFC's contract structure is what it is, and Stevenson's quick exit just highlights how different the leverage is when you're a free agent versus when you signed away your next five years at 22.
Stevenson will land on his feet. DAZN will pay him, and he'll be fighting again by spring.
