Dana White found himself fielding an unexpected question during a recent podcast appearance, when the conversation shifted from Zuffa Boxing’s business plans to a recurring problem behind the scenes: his production crew mixing up Black boxers with celebrities and athletes from entirely different fields.
Naji put it directly to White, telling him he needs “some black people in that production truck” because the crew keeps “messing up everybody.” White didn’t push back on the premise. Instead, he leaned into the story and admitted the mistakes have actually happened multiple times.
“Trust me, I said, do we not have any black people in the truck?” White said, recalling his own reaction when the errors kept surfacing.
The most glaring example involved Shakur Stevenson, one of Zuffa Boxing’s premier signings. White described the moment his team introduced Stevenson to a crowd, only for the broadcast to misidentify him entirely.
“Shakur Stevenson. I spend all this money to bring this kid in. I’m all excited. I bring him out to parade him around and we call him an NBA player,” White said.
UFC broadcast mistook Shakur Stevenson for NBA player Jalen Williams 💀 pic.twitter.com/CAO5DHwVRY
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) July 12, 2026
Naji pointed out that Stevenson wasn’t an isolated incident, noting “it seems to be the boxers” who keep getting mixed up. White confirmed it, revealing that Terence Crawford, fresh off his win over Canelo Alvarez, was hit with the same treatment.
“Yeah, same thing happened with Crawford,” White said, before Naji added that the broadcast had referred to Crawford as Kendrick Lamar.
The timing adds some weight to the criticism. Zuffa Boxing, backed by TKO and Turki Alalshikh, has positioned itself as the promotion looking to modernize boxing and rebuild trust with fans through partnerships like the one with Paramount+. Repeatedly misidentifying its own signed talent, including a centerpiece athlete like Stevenson, undercuts that message of professionalism.
