Former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton is seemingly getting the jump on an eventual conversation about the new Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act being adopted in Nevada after a meeting on the matter in California ended with the commission voting unanimously to support the measure.
On Tuesday during the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s monthly hearing, Newton offered public comment where he spoke directly about business practices allowed in MMA, which are banned in other sports like boxing under protections from the original Ali Act voted into law back in 2000. While he never directly mentioned the new Ali Revival Act, which seeks to allow UFC style promotion in the sport of boxing, Newton was pretty clearly addressing concerns raised by athletes in several antitrust lawsuits filed against the UFC in recent years after he also spoke during the California Athletic Commission hearing on Oct. 16.
“I was instrumental in the current UFC lawsuit,” Newton told the commission. “A lot of the things you guys spoke about pertains to sport and the governance of sport. Currently, athletes are not allowed to compete for other promotional titles in MMA, freely, openly and unfettered. MMA is the only sport in the world, professional sport, where the promoters are allowed to control rank and title while having athletes under exclusive contracts.
“I’d like to see something done in order to introduce independent titles or a sanctioning body or promoters not being allowed to use exclusive contracts with the athletes if the athletes are competing for that promoter’s title. It creates a monopoly by default because athletes inherently all have to compete against one another. If a promoter’s just willing to spend the money to do so or purchasing other promotions, they will inevitably, undoubtedly by default have a monopoly over those athletes of notoriety.”
The current version of the Ali Act effectively serves as a barrier to prevent conflicts of interest and more transparency when it comes to contracts and salaries. While many argue that the current law is rarely enforced, there’s still a law in place that sets certain limits, especially when it comes to how promoters are allowed to conduct business in boxing.
The new Ali Revival Act doesn’t change that law but instead adds a new provision to allow United Boxing Organizations (UBO) to bring UFC-style promotion to boxing, which could potentially include exclusive contracts as well as titles and rankings being provided by the promoter.
The new law was introduced in a bipartisan bill ahead of Zuffa Boxing officially launching in 2026.
“Managers work for the promoter,” Newton said during his public comment. “They’re now just brokers. No one has any bargaining power. The last time boxing was done this way was in 1825 when New York state then took over and issued an independent title. In the early 1900’s you guys created independent sanctioning bodies because New York state also inevitably ended up having just too many championship fights because it was the most popular state.
“Now fast forward to present day, we have a promoter the UFC just willing to always spend money at a loss in order to monopolize the game and tie up athletes. There’s over 50 athletes under exclusive contract in each weight division at the top of their game. There’s no sport in the world that does this.”
Newton stated that MMA athletes were never offered the same rights as boxers and it allowed the UFC to maintain a stranglehold on the sport.
“This has been litigated time and time again in other sports but for some reason Nevada in the early days allowed the UFC to run its course and nobody used independent sanctioning bodies,” Newton said. “Why? Because promoters had the choice but the sport is here to be governed and regulated on behalf of the athletes. For the athletes to be able to compete freely, openly and unfettered for titles, in order to get what the market will yield fairly for their services.
“Right now in mixed martial arts, athletes compete for the promoter. That is unfair. It is not a sport.”
Proponents for the new Ali Revival Act being adopted for boxing have argued that allowing UFC-style promotion not only allows athletes to have more options but the new model might actually allow for more growth in a sport desperate for some stability.
After announcing the launch of Zuffa Boxing, which is being funded entirely by the Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority, the promotion inked a long-term broadcast rights deal with Paramount to air events beginning in 2026.
Meanwhile other boxing promoters like Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions have lost TV deals in recent years with most major fights operating on an event-by-event basis. Boxing doesn’t technically have a constant presence on any major network or streaming service currently until the new Zuffa Boxing promotion launches next year.
That said, Newton believes fighters competing in MMA need better protections like boxers currently receive and anything less than that isn’t getting the job done.
“This just putting lipstick on a pig,” Newton said. “That’s exactly what this is. Lipstick on a pig to make this look like a real sport. It is not.
“When a promoter like the UFC can put an interim champion in whenever they feel like it, because they don’t want to sign or negotiate with the athletes, it’s unfair. It’s patented exploitation of the athletes and it’s a sham and a fraud on the public.”
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