Dana White saw a potential big star the first time he laid eyes on Callum Walsh, an unbeaten 23-year-old super welterweight prospect. Walsh had a quality amateur pedigree and showed the toughness, resolve and confidence of a fighter much older on the first day he showed up at legendary trainer Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
It didn't hurt that Walsh was Irish, because the Irish fans not only love fighting, but are highly supportive of their own. Conor McGregor turned into one of the biggest stars in combat sports when the UFC gave him a platform, and White was optimistic Walsh could make the next step toward stardom.
Prospects in boxing are often coddled, though, and often given next-to-no competition. And White, the UFC CEO who has a long history in boxing, despises that.
"What do you think happens to a kid who has been given all these easy fights and then you throw them in all of a sudden with someone tough, who's not going to just go away?" White asked, rhetorically.
That's why White and Walsh promoter Tom Loeffler of 360 Promotions work together so well. White has praised Loeffler's matchmaking and loves Loeffler's willingness to throw his guys into the deep end. Loeffler needed a broadcast outlet to build Walsh's profile and turned to White's UFC Fight Pass.
On Friday in New York, Walsh will face 11-3 Dauren Yeleussinov in the main event of a 360 Promotions card in The Theater at Madison Square Garden that will stream on UFC Fight Pass. It's quite a test for Walsh, who is coming off a difficult 10-round decision victory at The Theater over Ismael Villarreal.
There have been comparisons made to Top Rank's outstanding 21-year-old super welterweight, 18-0 Xander Zayas. But Loeffler said Walsh stands out in one clear way.
"This last guy Callum fought is tougher than anyone Xayas has faced in a lot more fights," Loeffler said.
That's the way White believes will help maximize Walsh's potential. It's also the way Bruce Trampler, the greatest boxing matchmaker of all-time, made fights for both Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather in their formative years as professionals.
Loeffler referred to it as "the fine art" of matchmaking: Showing a prospect new styles and difficult challenges while not giving him too much too soon.
"The fact this kid's fighting real guys at this point in his career is what is amazing," White said. "I love that about him. I think this kid from Kazakhstan is 11-3 with 10 knockouts, so Callum Walsh since Day 1 has been fighting nothing but real tough guys. The UFC model is proven. When you do that, by the time you're ready to fight for a world title, you've already seen it all and been through it all and fought all of the tough guys.
"Him taking on those kinds of guys is one of many things I respect about Callum. He was in a dog fight last time and again, he's going against another tough guy. So I expect another fun, tough fight this time for him."
Walsh came to the U.S. during the pandemic and turned pro, winding up at Roach's gym on a Wednesday. That is sparring day and Walsh willingly waded into the fray. It impressed Roach great and he's encouraged Loeffler to push him hard with the matchmaking.
The hope is that by challenging him, he'll develop quicker and not only be a star because of his charisma and his heritage but also because of his ability.
"Freddie's been telling us to expedite him and speed up the level of the opposition and so we've done that," Loeffler said. "He's been coming through each test and while he didn't get a [KO] in the last one, it was a good, tough hard fight and he learned a lot from it."
Growth is something White will be looking for from ringside on Friday.
"He's a hard worker and he's the kind of kid who steps up," White said. "So of course I expect to see improvement in him. We expect that every time out. But he's fighting real guys here, too."
Lina Baker/360 Promotions
Callum Walsh is 9-0 with 7 KOs heading into Friday's bout with Dauren Yeleussinov.