Zuffa Boxing: Callum Walsh wins comfortably on promotion’s opening night

Ocampo wore Zuffa gloves, but Walsh opted for his usual gloves and shoes.

The fight card moved at pace with majority of bouts competitive, and the ringwalks clocked in at under a minute as the boxers made the short walk from backstage to the ring.

Fight bonuses of £37,000 were handed out and three of the eight fights featured undefeated fighters matched together, which Loeffler says that will be a hallmark of Zuffa Boxing.

“The great thing about Zuffa Boxing is if you have a loss on your resume but you’re an exciting fighter who put on a good show for the fans, you’re going to be right back on two, three months later just like in the UFC structure,” he told BBC Sport.

“Fighters aren’t going to be afraid to take a competitive fight because they know they’re not going to be cut from the roster.”

In many ways, the Meta Apex – the home of the UFC and its performance institute – is a fitting starting point for Zuffa Boxing as White aims to build it out of the same framework as the MMA promotion.

But there are no plans to make the Meta Apex the permanent home of Zuffa Boxing.

“The first few shows will be here and then we’ll go on the road,” Loeffler said.

Once the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act passes through Congress into law, Zuffa will be able to operate as it prefers, crowning its own world champions.

The prospect has made seemingly every major player in boxing take notice – including a pessimistic Eddie Hearn – and driven some like sanctioning body the WBC to publicly label White and Zuffa Boxing as “bullies” and “aggressive”.

But Loeffler, who helped populate the first Zuffa event with fighters signed to his 360 Promotions, is envisioning the promotion having a transformative effect on boxing.

“What’s different about Zuffa Boxing is the energy that Dana White is bringing, all of his experience and success with building the UFC,” he said.

“You combine that with Nick Khan and all the success he’s had with WWE. You put those two powerhouses together [and ] it’s really going to revitalise and rejuvenate the sport.”