Dana White Announces Manziel Boxing
Dana White announced that former Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel will make his boxing debut in Miami in May against a popular influencer, an item picked up this week. (essentiallysports.com) The announcement sits outside UFC cards but is part of White’s cross‑combat promotion activity. (essentiallysports.com)
Johnny Manziel is set to make his boxing debut in Miami on May 16 against podcaster and influencer Bob Menery, with Dana White publicizing the matchup this week. (sports.yahoo.com) White said the fight is tied to Adin Ross’ Brand Risk Promotions, a creator-boxing outfit that markets cards built around internet personalities and livestream audiences rather than traditional sanctioning-body title fights. (fightful.com) (brandriskpromotions.com) White also said he bet $10,000 that Menery will not show up, and added that he would fly to Miami to watch if the bout is still on the night before. Multiple outlets carrying the clip reported the wager after White posted it on social media. (bloodyelbow.com) (essentiallysports.com) For Manziel, the event is another turn away from the football career that made him famous. He won the 2012 Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M as the award’s first freshman winner, then played 14 National Football League games for the Cleveland Browns across the 2014 and 2015 seasons. (heisman.com) (pro-football-reference.com) His National Football League career ended with 1,675 passing yards, 7 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions, numbers that help explain why his name now carries more celebrity value than competitive boxing credentials. (pro-football-reference.com) Menery is better known as a media personality than as a fighter. Reports describing the matchup identify him as a podcaster, social-media creator and commercial voice actor, and say this would also be his boxing debut. (fightful.com) (essentiallysports.com) The bout also lands as White’s role in boxing keeps expanding beyond the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In March 2025, TKO Group and Turki Alalshikh announced a new boxing promotion with White on the executive leadership side, formalizing a move he had discussed for years. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) (cbssports.com) This Miami card sits outside that TKO-backed boxing project and outside the Ultimate Fighting Championship schedule, but White’s involvement shows how often combat-sports promotion now overlaps with creator media, gambling chatter and crossover celebrity bouts. (sports.yahoo.com) (brandriskpromotions.com) The next test is simple: whether both men actually make it to May 16. White’s own public bet has turned the pre-fight story into less of a question about who wins and more of a question about whether the bell rings at all. (bloodyelbow.com)
