“It’s two of the greatest of all time and one of the biggest fights ever in the history of the sport. It’s a very proud moment for me, and I’ve done a lot of things in my career,” said UFC CEO Dana White, speaking about his upcoming second boxing venture under Zuffa Boxing. The event will feature Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford on September 13 at Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium.

The bout is already generating massive hype, with White and TKO eager to seize the spotlight for the super middleweight championship of the world. It marks Zuffa’s first step back into boxing since the 2017 Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather mega-event. This time, Dana White & Co. are leaving nothing to chance—leveraging UFC events for promotion and even enlisting UFC heartthrob Nina-Marie Daniele to add star power.

However, the boxing buzz does not equally sweep up everyone. Appearing on Submission Radio to preview UFC 319, American journalist Luke Thomas said he considers the card’s headliner—Khamzat Chimaev vs. Dricus Du Plessis—the “most anticipated fight on the calendar in all of fight sports.” While acknowledging the hype around Alvarez vs. Crawford, Thomas says it depends heavily on one outcome: a Terence Crawford victory.

From a stylistic perspective, Thomas drew parallels between the UFC 319 headliner and Mauricio Rua vs. Dan Henderson’s first clash—later enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight Wing. “I don’t know if this is true, you know, it’s just a feeling I’ve gotten—but it feels to me like this one has Henderson–Shogun potential. That fight… if you’ve never seen that one, holy Jesus. I just don’t even know what to say about it. And it was kind of funny because fans were a little bit down on that fight heading into it,” Thomas recalled.

Still, he tempered expectations, cautioning that the fight might not live up to the hype. “I say it’s all probability based. I don’t know if it’s going to be that good. I have a feeling it could be, but I don’t know. It’s potential. You know, it’s not inevitability,” said Thomas.

Even so, only time will tell whether Khamzat Chimaev vs. Dricus Du Plessis delivers a “lackluster” showing like last year’s UFC 306 main card or proves to be a blockbuster. The buzz around both fights is already sky-high, but there’s some relief knowing their dates don’t overlap—UFC 319 is set for next Saturday, August 16, while Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford hits Las Vegas on September 13, avoiding a direct clash with UFC Noche.

Dana White dismisses talk of Canelo vs. Crawford stealing UFC Noche spotlight

September won’t bring a pay-per-view UFC card, but it will deliver the third edition of Noche UFC 3.0 — the annual event that honors and celebrates Mexican culture and the contributions of Mexican and Mexican-American fighters to the sport. The UFC originally scheduled it for Guadalajara, Mexico, as UFC 320, but later moved it to San Antonio as a Fight Night because ongoing construction delayed the Guadalajara arena.

The change fueled buzz that Dana White and TKO deliberately kept it as a Fight Night to avoid clashing with the high-profile Canelo vs. Crawford boxing match — a major assignment for the UFC president under Zuffa Boxing. Saudi promoter Turki Alalshikh and Sela backed the boxing bout, sparking speculation that it might overshadow UFC Noche since both events fall on the same date, September 13.

Dana White, however, disagrees. Addressing the matter, he dismissed any talk of conflict, saying, “I’ve always had this theory that if you can get people to stay home on a Saturday night, and you put on two great fights the same night — we have UFC Noche that night, and I know that there’s a lotta questions about this. The main events, the main cards, will not cross over.”

Despite Dana White brushing off the idea, do you think the upcoming UFC Noche event might get overshadowed by Canelo vs. Crawford — or could it actually outshine UFC 319? Share your thoughts below.