{"id":499197,"date":"2026-02-23T16:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/499197\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T16:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:56:15","slug":"conor-benn-explains-shock-zuffa-boxing-move-as-he-targets-ryan-garcia-title-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/499197\/","title":{"rendered":"Conor Benn explains shock Zuffa Boxing move as he targets Ryan Garcia title showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conor Benn<\/a> has opened up on his surprise decision to join Zuffa Boxing<\/a> as he targets a first world title showdown against Ryan Garcia<\/a> later this year.<\/p>\n

The announcement on Friday<\/a> that Benn had signed a promotional deal – rumoured to be for one fight and worth eight figures – with the new company founded by UFC president Dana White and General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia chairman Turki Al-Sheikh sent shockwaves throughout the sport.<\/p>\n

It saw Benn cut ties with Matchroom Boxing and Eddie Hearn, with whom he had partnered throughout his entire professional career to date – culminating in a decisive and lucrative rematch win over arch-rival Chris Eubank Jr<\/a> at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in November.<\/p>\n

The move left Hearn – who called the decision a \u201cdagger in the heart\u201d – ruing his decision not to push Benn to sign a long-term contract as he admitted he \u201cmisjudged the character\u201d, while it has also further escalated his public war of words with White.<\/p>\n

Matchroom founder Barry Hearn called Benn \u201cclassless\u201d for the manner of his exit during an appearance on talkSPORT on Monday.<\/p>\n

Benn is the highest-profile signing so far for Las Vegas-based Zuffa Boxing, a joint venture between TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of both the UFC and WWE, and Saudi entertainment company Sela, who are bidding to revolutionise the sport and have already welcomed the likes of two-time IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia to their ranks.<\/p>\n

Asked in a new interview by Sky Sports<\/a> what the move to Zuffa Boxing means for his career going forward, Benn said: \u201cIt means career\u2019s heading in the same direction, which is world title by the end of the year, God willing, and just making fights.<\/p>\n

\"Next<\/p>\n

Next opponent? Ryan Garcia defeated Mario Barrios to win the WBC welterweight title (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the plan, give the fans what they want. Come over here, all the belts are over here in America – the majority of them are anyway. I\u2019m excited to get over here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benn is targeting a maiden world title tilt against Garcia, who dethroned Mario Barrios in Las Vegas on Saturday night to become the new WBC welterweight champion, before immediately calling out new WBO super-lightweight title-holder Shakur Stevenson.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully we can have him [Garcia] next in September,\u201d said Benn, who is the mandatory challenger for the WBC belt at 147lbs. \u201cI watched the Barrios fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas I impressed? I can\u2019t say I was. He did what he needed to do against a guy coming off two draws.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was impressed with his engine though and the fact he has managed to pull himself together and win a world title. I\u2019m extremely happy for him to pull himself out of the dark hole he was in to claim the throne.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I am no Barrios and would give him hell in there. He is there for the taking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benn also appears to have performed a U-turn over a potential third fight with Eubank Jr, with their long-running rivalry tied at one win apiece and Benn having previously insisted that the family saga was finally \u201cfinished\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould I fight him at a weight he is comfortable at, no excuses? Thinking about it, yeah I would fight him at 168,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conor Benn has opened up on his surprise decision to join Zuffa Boxing as he targets a first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,232536,802,40867,30027,958,9915,251127,2623,2767,9916,37653,85,114155],"class_list":{"0":"post-499197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-barry-hearn","11":"tag-boxing","12":"tag-chris-eubank-jr","13":"tag-conor-benn","14":"tag-dana-white","15":"tag-eddie-hearn","16":"tag-general-entertainment-authority","17":"tag-las-vegas","18":"tag-mario-barrios","19":"tag-matchroom-boxing","20":"tag-ryan-garcia","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-zuffa-boxing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}