Making Sense Out Of The UFC Signing Anthony Joshua

By Andreas Hale

On a recent conference call, Anthony Joshua confirmed that he’s open to the opportunity of working with the UFC and the mixed martial arts promotion’s president, Dana White.

This came after The Telegraph reported that White was interested in signing the British heavyweight to a multi-fight deal worth somewhere in the realm of an astounding $500 million.

White plans to attend Joshua’s March 31st title defense against Joseph Parker at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, where an expected sell out audience of 78,000 will be in attendance. During his visit, it’s expected that White will sit down with Joshua’s team and begin working on a potential deal.

Before we analyze why Joshua would consider the move, let’s get a something out of the way.

First and foremost, Anthony Joshua would not be signing to the UFC to compete in the heavyweight division. It would make absolutely no sense for the company to sign the unified heavyweight champion to an MMA deal while he is peaking in boxing. More importantly, there is no universe where signing a boxer to a $500 million deal to compete as a mixed martial artist would make sense. If there was, Conor McGregor would be the ruler of that universe, not Anthony Joshua. So those of you who think Joshua might step into the Octagon against Stipe Miocic need to go ahead and check out of that mental health facility now. It’s not happening.

This deal would be Dana White’s long rumored foray into the boxing world. White has tinkered with the idea since getting a taste of the spoils that came courtesy of Conor McGregor’s boxing match with Floyd Mayweather last summer. If nothing else, White recognized that his sport still had a long way to go before matching what a major prize fight could potentially bring in financially. But if White wants to participate as a boxing promoter, he has to make his first impression a significant one. And that’s why signing Anthony Joshua to the Zuffa Boxing imprint makes a great deal of sense. Of course, a major hurdle would be dealing with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn. But it’s not something that is impossible.

White is no fool, he’s long been a boxing fan and has always been a big supporter of the heavyweight division. He’s also not a newbie to boxing as he started his promotional career being involved with the sweet science. Eventually his gears shifted to the UFC, but White’s entire business model came from fixing the things that he believed were broken in boxing. Whether he succeeded in that area is still up for debate. However, he’s very keen on what is going on in the boxing world and knows that the heavyweight division remains the glamour division.

So, why Joshua?

The rationale here is quite simple, actually. Joshua is a massive star overseas and arguably the sports biggest global star at the moment. He’s crushed pay per view records in the United Kingdom and has routinely filled massive stadiums for his fights. Aside from the 78,000 that will attend his fight with Parker, Joshua brought in 78,000 for his fight with Carlos Takam and a British-record boxing crowd of 90,000 to Wembley Stadium to witness his 11th-round knockout of Wladimir Klitschko last year. However, what he hasn’t done is make a similar impression in the United States.

That’s where White comes in.

Seeing an opportunity to bring Joshua and his marketability stateside makes a ton of sense. He’s not building a fighter from the ground up. Rather, he’s fine tuning his appeal to the U.S. and piggybacking off of what has already been established across the pond. Signing a co-promotional deal with Hearn to promote Joshua in the States is exactly what could put Zuffa Boxing on the map and make White a major player in boxing. Of course, it will take more than one boxer to be able to compete with Golden Boy, Top Rank and PBC. But it’s a major domino that would fall and set the stage for other fighters to join Zuffa Boxing.

As for Joshua, he could be completely content with the massive following he has overseas but both he and Hearn have to be aware that being a significant draw in the States can open the door to other lucrative marketing opportunities. And why not take this massive offer from White? If Hearn and White could work together, there doesn’t seem to be much that could go wrong. Even if White doesn’t know exactly the best way to push Joshua in the States, the undefeated Brit would have a massive bank account for his trouble and wouldn’t lose much when it comes to his base overseas.

This is essentially two parties that can help each other get what they want. White wants in the boxing game and recognizes the immense potential that Joshua possesses and Joshua will rake in a ridiculous amount of cash while hopefully garnering a huge base in the U.S. to go along with what he’s already established in the U.K.

Truthfully, there is no other fighter who makes as much sense as Anthony Joshua for Dana White to go after. Let’s see if the two sides can hammer out a deal.