Dana White believes the difference between boxing and mixed martial arts comes down to the depth of skill required. Speaking on a podcast, the UFC CEO and president explained why influencer athletes often choose boxing instead of stepping into the UFC.
“You have to have such a high skill level to do mixed martial arts,” White said. “Anybody can put on a pair of gloves and throw punches at each other. You know, going to the ground and pulling off submissions and doing all that stuff is a whole other level.”
White was not dismissing boxing. Instead, he emphasized that mixed martial arts demands competence across several disciplines. A UFC star must be prepared to strike, defend takedowns, wrestle against the cage and handle complex positions on the mat. A weakness in any one area can quickly become the deciding factor in a match.
“Well, you have to have it all,” White said when asked about the balance between wrestling and striking. “If you’re not a well-rounded athlete, you cannot exist in the UFC. You can’t be successful here. You have to have it all.”
That standard creates a steep barrier for athletes crossing over from other sports or entertainment. A professional football player may possess strength, speed and toughness, while a boxer may have years of experience with distance, timing and punches. In the UFC, however, those attributes must be combined with grappling and submission defense.
White also credited Brazilian jiu-jitsu with helping audiences understand what happens once a fight reaches the mat. He pointed to longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan, saying that Rogan helped explain the transitions and setups that viewers could not always recognize.
“Joe Rogan is the best combat sports commentator of all time,” White said. “Joe Rogan would walk you through. When they went to the ground, two or three steps before it happened, Joe Rogan would start walking you through what was going on and literally helped educate millions of people on the ground game.”
The sport is not simply boxing with additional techniques. It requires athletes to solve problems in every phase, often under immense pressure and with little room for error. That complete skill set, he argued, is what separates UFC competition from a traditional boxing match.
