Callum Walsh will make history on Friday night in Las Vegas as the first headline act of Dana White’s long-anticipated move into professional boxing.
The 24-year-old Irish light-middleweight will top the bill at the UFC Apex, launching Zuffa Boxing — a new venture backed by White and Saudi investment — in a quiet but symbolic debut during UFC 324 fight week.
Dana White’s First Boxing Flag-Bearer
Walsh’s place at the front of this new chapter is no accident. He has effectively grown up within the UFC ecosystem, fighting most of his professional bouts on UFC Fight Pass with White firmly in his corner.
“I’ve always been around the UFC, so it felt natural,” Walsh said. “Dana saw the mindset and the skills I had, and I think I’m the right person to represent the boxing side of the UFC.”
That familiarity made Walsh the obvious choice to front Zuffa Boxing’s first event. He will face seasoned Mexican fighter Carlos Ocampo in what is being billed as a soft launch rather than a full-scale spectacle, with the bout held behind closed doors at the Apex.
A Long Road from Ireland to Las Vegas
Walsh’s rise has been anything but smooth. Once a promising amateur with Olympic ambitions, his plans were derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic. With boxing on hold, he worked gruelling seven-day weeks on a fishing boat in Ireland.
Rather than settle, Walsh took a leap of faith, moving to Los Angeles and knocking on the door of Freddie Roach’s legendary Wild Card Boxing Club. Life was tough — sleeping on couches, broke, unable to work legally, even crashing his car — but he stayed.
“I thought about going home so many times,” Walsh admitted. “But the fishing job showed me what I didn’t want my life to be.”
That persistence paid off. He turned professional at 20, signed with promoter Tom Loeffler, and soon found himself fighting regularly on UFC Fight Pass. Last September, he was handed a co-main event slot on the blockbuster Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford card — a moment that confirmed his fast-tracked rise.
Walsh welcomes the pressure. “Greatness isn’t about being undefeated,” he said. “It’s about giving everything and fighting anyone.”
Zuffa Boxing and a Shifting Landscape
Walsh’s debut also marks the public arrival of Zuffa Boxing, a project that has generated equal parts intrigue and concern. White’s vision mirrors the UFC model — fewer belts, tighter control, and one clear champion per weight class — but that approach clashes with the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, which restricts boxing promoters from operating like MMA organisations.
Efforts are underway in the US to reform the Ali Act, raising fears among some fighters and advocates that boxers could lose earning power and career freedom. Walsh, however, is unconcerned.
“I don’t deal with the politics,” he said. “Dana’s been with me my whole career. If he’s starting a boxing organisation, I’m fighting there.”
White ultimately wants Zuffa Boxing titles to rival — or replace — traditional belts from the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO. A glimpse of a branded Zuffa belt has already surfaced, hinting at those ambitions.
For Walsh, the future is still taking shape. He wants to reach world title level within a year and believes Zuffa Boxing will soon attract elite names, following the signing of IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.
“I don’t know exactly how it’ll work with the sanctioning bodies,” Walsh said. “But I plan to be the Zuffa Boxing champion. This is just the beginning.”
