The UFC’s ownership group are closing in on its long rumoured pivot to boxing.

For years, Dana White has referenced the possibility of a move into boxing but pulled back on several occasions citing institutional problems within the sport. While that initial venture, dubbed at one point Zuffa Boxing in reference to the UFC’s original ownership entity, never came to fruition, it appears as though the landscape has changed amid the UFC’s new economic reality as part of the TKO Group, which also counts the WWE among its assets.

Furthermore, boxing’s new money men in Saudi Arabia have changed the platform of the sport — and this is something that TKO appears to want a part of, after TKO’s president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro confirmed that an agreement appears incoming for a Saudi-funded boxing league.

“Everybody knows we’re in talks with the Saudis but to give you a little more color, I will tell you that we are close on an agreement with the Saudis on a creation of a boxing league where we TKO would be the producer, the promoter and responsible for all day-to-day operations of the venture, where by we would receive a fee of $10 million plus,” Shapiro said during a Wednesday financial call with investors.

“Again, we’re not putting any money in, we’re not putting any capital in, we’re not on the hook for any [costs].”

Shapiro added: “We’ve just sent a delegation to London to meet with the Saudi delegation led by Andrew Schleimer, our CFO and Nick Khan, of course who runs WWE, and Lawrence Epstein who runs UFC,. They had a full day meeting earlier this week and we’re getting awfully close and when we have something official, we’ll come out.”

Shapiro also suggested that two high profile boxing cards might serve as the basis for the launch of the organisation, which he stressed TKO is insulated from financial loss.

He also stated that the knowledge capital within TKO, particularly Khan and White, means that the group has the ideal expertise for the venture.

“It’s thoughtful, it’s the right strategic place for us to be,” he said. “We have experts in Nick Khan and Dana White among others that can drive that business. We can be selective in terms of how we participate and whatever we do, we will not take risk and it will definitely be value accretive.”