Dana White credits Eddie Hearn for securing UK venue for Fury-Joshua

UFC president Dana White has acknowledged that promoter Eddie Hearn was instrumental in guaranteeing the highly anticipated heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua takes place in the United Kingdom. The bout is set to be staged at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, overriding efforts by White and Saudi Arabian organizers to host the event at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The fight, which will be broadcast on Netflix, is scheduled for 11 December with the main event expected to begin in the early hours of 12 December. While the venue is confirmed, the path to the agreement was complicated by a dispute regarding White’s promotional role.

Speaking on the 5 Live Boxing with Bunce podcast, White stated, “You’ve got to give credit to Eddie for really grinding that and making sure that it happened in the UK.” The contest was presented as a joint effort between Saudi boxing figure Turki Alalshikh’s The Ring promotion and White’s newly launched Zuffa Boxing. However, tensions arose after Hearn publicly rejected White’s involvement in promoting the fight following the launch of Zuffa earlier this year.

Although Hearn had insisted White’s participation was off the table, he recently indicated a willingness to meet with the American to discuss potential involvement. White, however, expressed fatigue regarding the ongoing professional rivalry.

“I’m actually bored with this now. Who cares? This isn’t about me and Eddie Hearn,” White said. “It’s about AJ and Fury. It’s about this heavyweight fight. It’s an Eddie show, not a Dana and Eddie show. It’s boring now. This is about AJ and Fury. This was never the Dana and Eddie show. It’s been all the Eddie show. White also clarified his role in the upcoming event, noting that while he did not attend the 30 September press conference alongside the fighters, he and his team will handle production. He described himself as one of the promoters alongside Frank Warren and Hearn, emphasizing that the focus must remain on the fighters rather than the promotional conflict.