Dana White says he offered Shakur Stevenson his release from Zuffa Boxing

The UFC boss said he had nothing bad to say about Stevenson or his team, and pointed out that Zuffa Boxing never put on a single fight with him.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Sat 24 Oct, 23:06 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Zuffa Boxing: White on Stevenson — Original graphic: Combat Sports UK

Shakur Stevenson left Zuffa Boxing after being offered his release, Dana White said on Saturday, and Stevenson's team accepted the offer.

White was asked at the UFC 333 post-fight press conference about Stevenson's account that he had asked to be released and had the request granted. He said: "I offered him his release. I offered him the release."

Asked whether Stevenson had been difficult to work with, White said: "I think that everybody's involved. They're happy, you know, with where we're at with it. I have nothing bad to say about him or his team, but I offered him the release and they accepted."

White was then asked what set Stevenson apart from UFC fighters such as Jon Jones, Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa, who have asked for their release in the past. He said: "Well, we never even did one fight with the guy. We were in business with him for a couple months."

He would not say whether Zuffa Boxing had tried to book Stevenson's fights. "I'm not going to get into any of that," White said, adding that he would not "say anything negatively about him" and that "we got to a position where we both agreed we were cool with the release."

Stevenson said this week that he is now a free agent and is launching his own promotional company.

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Sean Strickland Paulo Costa