British boxer Conor Benn has become the latest fighter to sign with Zuffa Boxing.
The 29-year-old has been promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport since he turned professional in 2016, but today (February 20) announced that he will be moving to the Dana White-led promotional company after they presented him with an opportunity he “simply couldn’t refuse.”
Benn’s most recent fight was a rematch with Chris Eubank Jr at middleweight on November 15. This was a fight he won convincingly before he stated his intention to move back down in weight to attempt to win a world title at 147lbs.
Benn spoke on his decision via a post on social media where he thanked Matchroom for their support throughout his career and said that he wanted Hearn to continue to be part of his team despite the 46-year-old’s ongoing feud with White.
On Wednesday, DAZN and Matchroom announced that they had signed a new five-year deal, extending their long-standing partnership. Benn was used in the picture for the announcement on social media.
Last December, the WBC ranked him as their No 1 welterweight, despite Benn’s most recent fight at that weight coming in April 2022, making him the mandatory challenger for the title.
That belt is on the line in Las Vegas this weekend when the champion Mario Barrios takes on Ryan Garcia on Saturday, and Benn previously stated he would be watching that fight closely.
“I want the winner early next year,” he said in December. “Q1, God willing, that WBC world title is mine. I’ll be coming for that belt, and Britain will have a new world champion. Let’s have it.”
Welcome to @Zuffa_Boxing, @ConorNigel! pic.twitter.com/Y1N2E6h6qU
— danawhite (@danawhite) February 20, 2026
Announcing the new signing, UFC president and CEO White said: “Conor Benn is an absolute beast and a superstar. He shows up every time and destroys people, and now some of the best fighters in the world are calling him out.
“He’s ready for a world title next, and I can’t wait to see him compete in Zuffa Boxing.”
Analysis
Benn’s move comes as a huge surprise. Not only because he has left a promotional company that he has been with for a decade, and one that stood firmly by him after he tested positive for the banned substance clomifene in two separate Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) tests, but because he has left it to join Zuffa.
White’s boxing venture is in its infancy, having held its third standalone event last weekend, headlined by a heavyweight clash between Efe Ajagba and Charles Martin.
Cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia was the most high-profile name on their books, but the signing of Benn probably knocks him down a peg. Despite the Brit never having won a world title, his name and reputation have made him one of the sport’s most recognisable fighters.
Matchroom have helped with that too, of course, and their CEO Hearn will surely be less than happy at Benn’s move to work with a man he has been swapping jibes with over the last few months.
Last weekend, White claimed that his entry into boxing had met far less resistance than he expected. The 56-year-old said it was like “beating up babies. I expected more. I expected some pushback. I expected them to be more game. They’re all way out of their league.”
Hearn’s response signalled an intensification of the burgeoning rivalry between the pair. Speaking at an event to announce Matchroom’s extension of their exclusive broadcast deal with streaming platform DAZN, Hearn questioned Zuffa’s “vision”, calling their shows “complete dog****” and claiming Zuffa cannot compete in “this cutthroat world of boxing.”
He also brought awareness to the fact that Zuffa is part-owned by Sela, a Saudi Arabian entertainment, hospitality, and sports management company owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Hearn’s point was that White now answers to Turki Al-Sheikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA).
While that was his way of answering back to White’s jibe at Hearn working for his father, it also points to the power and financial might behind Zuffa – persuasive factors when they are talking to potential new signings.
For Zuffa, Benn represents a way into the UK market — something that could be important given their reported talks with Sky Sports about a potential broadcast deal.
The biggest question mark is over what this move means for Benn, particularly his position with the WBC, given White’s words last weekend, when he said: “I’ve never said anything bad about the WBC or the IBF or any of them. I just said I’m not going to do business with them — I’m going to do my own thing.”