Dana White Criticizes Boxing’s Between-Round Entertainment
Dana White’s 2021 attack on boxing centered on one event: Triller Fight Club’s Jake Paul–Ben Askren card. After Paul stopped former UFC welterweight Ben Askren in the first round on April 17, White questioned Triller’s reported pay-per-view numbers and mocked the show’s celebrity-heavy production. His comments were part of a public feud with Paul and Triller—not a measured assessment of every boxing event.
What prompted White’s criticism
Paul’s win over Askren was the main event of a card that blended boxing with music and celebrity appearances. White later disputed Triller’s claims about the event’s pay-per-view performance and pushed back against Paul’s public challenges to UFC fighters. The dispute mixed a genuine difference in how the two promotions presented their shows with a personal promotional rivalry.
Paul kept boxing
Paul continued as a professional boxer after the Askren bout, later facing opponents from boxing and other combat sports. His crossover events helped keep influencer boxing in the spotlight, but one event—and White’s response to it—cannot stand in for the state of the entire sport.
White later entered boxing promotion
White’s role has since changed. In 2025, TKO and Sela announced Zuffa Boxing, a professional boxing promotion led in part by White. Its first event took place in January 2026. That move puts his earlier remarks in a different light: White criticized the way Triller packaged a particular card, while later building a boxing venture of his own.
The lasting story is the clash of promotional styles and the public argument over the event’s presentation and audience claims. Paul’s first-round win over Askren gave the night a clear sporting result; White’s reaction made it a wider discussion about spectacle, business and crossover fights.
