White has now confirmed that Zuffa fighters can compete on Ring Magazine shows and hold championships from both organizations at the same time.
The move stands in contrast to his position in September 2025, when he told Max Kellerman that Zuffa would not recognize the WBC, WBA, WBO or IBF. The idea then was replacement, not coexistence. That position weakened when Zuffa signed Jai Opetaia.
Opetaia did not chalk up the promotion as a prospect or a sign of development. He arrived as an active world champion with unfinished business and public standing. His team made it clear that unifications remained central to his career, and Zuffa allowed him to pursue them. The belt vision did not survive contact with that level of leverage. From there the direction is set.
White says now fighters can wear multiple belts. He describes the shift as flexibility and respect for ambitions formed long before Zuffa existed. The timing indicates something more basic. Zuffa needs champions with established credibility more than champions need a new title still making weight. The change came when the original approach stopped working.
The original Zuffa pitch depended on fighters trading outside recognition for internal control. That structure can hold with prospects, veterans nearing the end, or fighters without bargaining power. It becomes relevant once the roster includes champions whose value was built elsewhere, under the same system that initially fired Zuffa.
Ring Tydskrif fits neatly into that reality. The Ring cards, owned by Turki Alalshikh, who helped finance Zuffa Boxing, offer a venue for recognized status without requiring White to publicly reverse course on the sanctioning bodies he once rejected. It works as a pressure release, not a shared philosophy.
Zuffa keeps its internal structure intact while fighters continue to pursue their own ambitions, with the rulebook bending just enough to keep the operation moving. White moved once boxing tested the idea early and made the limits clear.
