The Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, a piece of legislation which could significantly alter the business of boxing in the U.S., received its first major approval on Wednesday afternoon.
The U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce passed the bill with a 30-4 vote on Wednesday, a little under six months after the legislation was first proposed by Georgia representative Brian Jack. The act still needs to go through many more stages of scrutiny before becoming law, but Wednesday marked its first major test.
The Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act (with amendments) passes the Committee and now moves to the House of Representatives. #BOXINGnBBQ#BOXING https://t.co/GGEdhwEhyC pic.twitter.com/NwmDAPKAej
— BOXING n BBQ (@BOXINGnBBQ) January 21, 2026
The bill, supported heavily by UFC owners TKO Group Holdings, who will launch their own boxing brand just later this week, will allow promoters to exclude themselves and their fighters from the current sanctioning body-run system within boxing.
The act would allow promoters to register as a Unified Boxing Organization (UBO), granting them numerous significant powers and abilities previously not allowed in America. If recognized as a UBO, a promotion would be allowed to manage and award its own championship titles, something currently illegal in the U.S. Similarly, they would also be able to control their own rankings system.
Boxing’s championships and rankings have long been controlled by sanctioning bodies, like the World Boxing Council (WBC). These bodies are in charge of making the best fights in boxing and often “order” matchups to be booked, often forcing companies to co-promote and collaborate.
While passed, the act saw a few amendments made to it during Wednesday’s committee meeting. Most notably, Representative Ilhan Omar proposed a clause which would force UBOs to arrange bouts for their clients every six months, and that they must pay at least $2,000 a month to a boxer when they aren’t in action.
The Ali Revival Act, if made law, would allow TKO to run its new Zuffa Boxing project in the exact way that they have teased.
A recent teaser package for Zuffa Boxing showed Dana White carrying a custom “Zuffa” belt, signalling the promotion’s intention to present their own titles. White has also said in the past that he doesn’t plan to work with other promotions as part of the project.
“The model is proven to deliver the fights that fans want to see,” White said when TKO’s boxing project was announced last year. “The best will fight the best, and the fighters will continue to move up the rankings and become world champions.”
Critics of the act argue that it could leave the door open for a singular promoter to gain a “stranglehold on the sport,” per CombatSportsLaw writer Erik Magraken.
Worries about how TKO in particular could control the sport were mentioned during Wednesday’s meeting.
“The bill would allow the owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the UFC … to dominate professional boxing with the UFC business model,” said Congressman Robert C. Scott. “The UFC has drawn intense scrutiny over the monopoly power it has in mixed martial arts and its exploitative contract provisions.”
