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It was revealed several days ago that boxing star Connor Benn has signed a one fight deal with Zuffa Boxing, with that deal being worth $15 million.
Many assumed that Zuffa was covering Benn’s pay, but TKO Executive Mark Shapiro revealed that Turki Alalshikh is covering Benn’s paycheck.
"First off, 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 during a TKO earnings conference call (transcript via Danny Segura of MMA Junkie). "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, or of course incremental fees.
"Us with TKO and Sela collectively identified Conor Benn, as someone we wanted to have 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 (Alvarez) and (Terence) Crawford. No different than other super fights we're planning with Sela. I would add to the reported purse, which 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."
Several UFC fighters like former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and Michael Page have spoken out against Benn’s payout for his one fight deal with Zuffa Boxing.
