topic this past week.
Benn reportedly received a $15 million contract for one fight,
which is significantly more than most — if not all — UFC athletes
earn on a per fight basis. Since Dana White is the head of both the
UFC and Zuffa Boxing, that sparked plenty of criticism from
fighters who go to work inside the Octagon. Former bantamweight
champ Sean
O’Malley was in
disbelief that Benn would be paid that much, while Michael
Page expressed
disappointment that White would place such value on someone
outside of the promotion where he “built his reputation.”
However, during a quarterly financial call on Wednesday, TKO Group
Holdings (the parent company of the UFC and Zuffa Boxing) president
and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro attempted to quell some of
that controversy by revealing that Benn’s signing was entirely
funded by the company’s partners in Saudia Arabia, which includes
entertainment conglomerate Sela and Turki Alalshikh. As a result,
it’s no guarantee that Benn competes on a weekly Zuffa Boxing card
streamed on Paramount+. The plan, instead, is for Benn to compete
on a bigger card similar to the Terence
Crawford -Canelo Alvarez event this past September.
“First off, I would say this story has taken a life of its own, and
that’s largely because Eddie Hearn is stirring the pot in a very
fictional way,” Shapiro said. “So, as you know, our partner in
Zuffa Boxing is Sela – they’re the financial backer entity.
Beyond the year long series of fight cards that will appear
exclusively on Paramount+, we’ve described again and again on these
calls and conferences that we also plan to stage approximately two
to four super fights per year – Canelo-Crawford being an example
– some of which TKO will promote and or sell the media rights,
for of course incremental fees.
“We at TKO with Sela collectively identified Conor Benn, as someone
we wanted to sign for one of those super fights in 2026. That’s it.
One fight in 2026. Conor was a free agent. Dana White and Nick
Khan, in that order, went out and signed Conor. Now, let me be
clear: we signed him for just one fight. That’s all we’re talking
about here. Now, of course, we hope that eventually he’ll fight in
our Zuffa Boxing series exclusively on Paramount+, but for now,
this is just one fight. No different than what we did with Canelo
and Crawford. No different than other super fights we’re planning
with Sela. I would add to the reported purse, which I believe was
around $15 million, that the reported purse – I’m not
confirming or denying – that Conor will be paid for this super
fight in 2026, is not TKO going out of pocket. Sela, led by our
great partner Turki Alalshikh, is covering the purse. Once again,
no different than exactly what we did with the Canelo-Crawford
fight.”
Mark Shapiro confirms the Conor Benn deal is
a one fight deal to be part of one of the super fights events. He
says it’s not different than the Canelo/Crawford event. Sela led by
Turki Alalshikh is covering the purse, not Zuffa Boxing. pic.twitter.com/4wyow4rcfg— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman)
February 25, 2026
The Roster So Far
The date for Benn’s Zuffa Boxing debut has not been announced. The
promotion on Tuesday revealed a list of 96 athletes — Benn included
— that it has signed thus far.
We’ve been BUSY! 😤
Check out our full list of current athletes signed to Zuffa Boxing!
🥊 pic.twitter.com/Nr53QYlbgw— Zuffa_Boxing (@Zuffa_Boxing)
February 24, 2026