Dana White Says Zuffa Boxing Shorts Policy Remains a Work in Progress
Dana White said Zuffa Boxing is still working through how much freedom fighters will have with their ring kits, including custom shorts. The UFC CEO addressed the issue on Cigar Talk after the promotion’s uniform rules became one of the most visible complaints around the boxing venture.
The conversation came one night after Ryan Garcia stopped Conor Benn in two rounds to keep the WBC welterweight title at T-Mobile Arena. Garcia has already said he will not wear a standard Zuffa outfit if he ever signs with the company, and the clip used to frame White’s comments showed him in both the black promotional trunks and his own maroon “Henry” shorts.
Deontay Wilder pressed White on that split. “What’s the deal with the shorts?” he asked.
Wilder said the look has become a flashpoint with viewers and boxers. “People get mad at the shorts.”
He argued that boxing has always left room for personality in the ring. “We like a little flare, they gotta be able to wear some, you know what I’m saying?”
That tension is built into Zuffa Boxing’s model. The promotion launched in 2026 with a UFC-style apparel approach that limited outside branding and put company-issued kits on most of the roster.
Wilder noted that the default look is still the company trunk. “But they wear the Zuffa shorts.”
He also said the rule is not applied the same way to everyone. “Some of the guys can’t wear the shorts.”
That tracks with reporting from earlier this summer. Edgar Berlanga and Richardson Hitchins were allowed to compete in their own gear at Zuffa Boxing 9, and Ariel Helwani said at the time that fighters of a certain stature were being given more leeway.
White did not present a finished policy on Cigar Talk. “That whole thing is sort of a work in progress,” he said.
He described two groups inside the roster rather than one rigid standard. “A lot of the guys like to wear the stuff, and some wanna do their own things.”
That distinction matters because Zuffa’s contracts have given the company control over approved uniforms and logos. For many signed boxers, personal sponsors and custom trunks were not an automatic right when the promotion started.
White said the company is trying to meet those requests when it can. “We try to make that happen if we can.”
He framed the issue as part of a larger attempt to build the boxing brand the way he imagined it. The comment stopped short of a promise that every fighter will get a custom kit on demand.
The comparison to the UFC is unavoidable. MMA athletes have spent more than a decade under centralized apparel deals, and exceptions there have usually been limited to redesigned promotional shorts rather than fully independent trunks.
Boxing is different. Custom shorts, robes, and walkout looks have long been part of how fighters market themselves, and Garcia made that a condition of any future Zuffa relationship when he spoke to Helwani in July.
Garcia told Helwani then that he would design his own outfits and walkout and would not sign if that was taken away. White’s latest comments do not confirm a deal with Garcia, but they do show the promotion is aware that top names expect that freedom.
Garcia is 26-2 with 21 knockouts after the Benn win and still has remaining Golden Boy obligations. Benn fell to 25-2 in his first world title fight and was signed to Zuffa, which made the Las Vegas card a meeting point between the two business models.
The shorts debate will follow the next Zuffa cards as closely as the matchmaking. If White keeps opening the door for stars while leaving the standard kit on the rest of the roster, the split Wilder described will stay in public view.
Zuffa’s next date is expected in England, and that show will be the first test of whether White’s “work in progress” becomes a clearer rule. Until then, custom shorts remain available in some cases and restricted in others, with the promotion deciding how far it is willing to bend.