Tyson Fury Fight Set for UFC Production

Dana White says the UFC will take on production duties for Tyson Fury’s announced fight with Anthony Joshua. The UFC CEO made that point Thursday while explaining why he did not attend the first press conference for the heavyweight matchup in London. White said he is also promoting the fight, giving the UFC two roles in the event as he describes them: promotional involvement and responsibility for producing the show. Fury and Joshua’s respective boxing promoters, Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn, appeared on stage at the London event. White was not there, although Zuffa Boxing executive Nick Khan attended and sat beside Turki Alalshikh. White’s absence drew questions because his name had already appeared in promotional discussion surrounding the fight. His response established that he does not view his missing the press conference as a sign that he has stepped away from the event. Instead, White said the UFC will be responsible for putting the show together.

White attributed his absence in London to a demanding schedule rather than any change in his involvement with Fury vs. Joshua. He said he had the Contender Series the previous day and needed to be in Utah on Thursday. Although White said he flies often, he described making that trip as difficult. The explanation came after the first major public appearance for a fight that has several prominent figures connected to it. Warren represents Fury as promoter, while Hearn is Joshua’s promoter. Their places on the press-conference stage reflected those boxing roles. White described a different assignment for himself and the UFC. In his account, he is promoting the contest while the UFC handles the production side of the event. That distinction became especially relevant after Hearn questioned whether White would be involved at all. White’s Thursday comments did not revise the announced matchup, date, location or broadcaster. They focused on how the event will be presented and on the UFC’s place in that process.

White says UFC will handle production

Asked about missing the London press conference, White gave a direct description of the work he says lies ahead for his organization. “Not only am I promoting the fight, we’re producing the fight. UFC is going to produce the show,” he said. White also rejected the suggestion that the circumstances amounted to a public-relations problem, saying he was right about his involvement. His comments place the UFC beyond a simple promotional association with the Fury-Joshua event. According to White, the company will produce the full show while he remains involved as a promoter. That account sits alongside the established boxing-promoter roles held by Warren and Hearn. Warren and Hearn shared the stage in London for their fighters, but White said the UFC’s production team will assemble the event presentation. The division of responsibilities described by White is important because it addresses two separate questions raised after the press conference: whether he is part of the promotion and whether the UFC has a practical function on the show itself. White answered both in the affirmative. His remarks are his own account of the UFC’s planned responsibilities, not a change to the already announced Fury-Joshua fight.

Hearn’s comments the day before added another layer to the discussion. He said White and others had handled the situation badly, calling the previous seven days one of boxing’s greatest public-relations disasters. Hearn also said he had been correct that White would not actually be involved in the upcoming bout. White responded Thursday by challenging that conclusion. He asked whether he had been lying or wrong, then pointed to his stated status as a promoter and to the UFC’s planned production role. White said the difference between them was that Hearn was trying to win a public-relations battle. The exchange explains why White’s production announcement became a central development after the London gathering. It was not simply a question of who appeared at the press conference. It concerned the extent of White’s participation in an event where the fighters’ own promoters had already been publicly identified. White’s answer was that he remains connected to the fight and that the UFC will produce the entire event. Hearn’s criticism and White’s response did not alter the scheduled Fury-Joshua matchup or its announced broadcast plans.

Netflix will air the Cardiff event

Fury and Joshua are scheduled to meet on Dec. 11 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. Netflix is set to air the event. Those details provide the fixed event setting for White’s announcement about UFC production. Netflix’s original press release included White’s name in the promotion, and his Thursday remarks specified the role he says the UFC will perform. For readers tracking the event, the distinction is straightforward: the fight remains scheduled for Netflix in Cardiff on Dec. 11, while White says the UFC will produce the show around it. The London press conference identified Warren and Hearn as the promoters connected to Fury and Joshua, respectively. White’s explanation adds the UFC production team to the group of parties involved in staging the event. His comments also answer the immediate question created by his absence from that first press conference. He said travel and scheduling prevented him from attending, not a lack of participation in the fight.

• White said he is promoting Fury vs. Joshua.
• White said the UFC will produce the event, while Netflix is set to air it on Dec. 11 from Cardiff.

White’s account gives Fury vs. Joshua an announced UFC production component in addition to the promotional roles of Warren and Hearn. Questions prompted by White’s absence in London led to his explanation of both his schedule and the UFC’s planned work. The fight is set for Dec. 11 in Cardiff, United Kingdom, with Netflix scheduled to broadcast it.