Dana White left Zuffa Boxing 04 and stated much less concerning the scorecard and extra about Saramount. He used Conor Benn’s reported debut funding of $15 million throughout his time at Paramount as a sign for his new boxing enterprise and the place he needed to take the UFC.
Jay Opetaia was topped the inaugural Zuffa Cruiserweight Champion at Zuffa Boxing 04 on the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, with the Australian defeating Brandon Glanton by unanimous determination 119-106 on all three playing cards. It was one other sturdy evening for the brand new model, constructed out of the UFC’s Las Vegas base and pushed exhausting by Paramount+ as a part of a broader rights technique that’s reshaping the promotion’s enterprise.
Dana White factors to Conor Benn’s $15 million contract as Paramount period begins in boxing and UFC
Away from the ring, Conor Benn’s determination to go away Matchroom and signal a one-fight cope with Dana White and Zuffa Boxing, value about $15 million, in keeping with boxing insider Dan Rafael, dominated the headlines. The transfer raised questions on what such a handbag means in a state of affairs the place even established UFC champions hardly ever have eight-figure salaries made public.
White did not draw back from the subject in his postgame speech. He was leaning towards the concept the cope with Zuffa Boxing and the corporate behind it, Paramount, was aimed toward gaining new followers and growing general salaries.
“Have a look at what’s occurring proper now. Zuffa Boxing is bringing in an entire new viewers. New followers are paying consideration and watching their fights for the primary time. That is the way you construct stars. You set them in actual fights in entrance of a giant crowd, not on the undercard of three,000 folks. For years in Sing, there was one huge favourite and numerous guys that nobody had ever heard of. We’re altering that. And yeah, once you get extra numbers and extra consideration, it is good for a fighter, and I’ve stated it 1,000,000 occasions, once you develop, all people wins.”
For White, that dialogue now cuts straight to the UFC’s long-term partnership with Paramount and CBS, with shops reporting the streaming-first deal is value greater than $7 billion over seven years, with a median annual worth of about $1.1 billion, and a transfer away from the normal pay-per-view mannequin. He has already promised that normal post-fight bonuses will enhance when the Paramount period begins in 2026, explaining that the spike in further in a single day cash will quantity to “thousands and thousands of {dollars}” per 12 months.
“Why is it unhealthy for fighters to earn more money? Extra money in sports activities is all the time factor. We simply signed an excellent TV rights deal. I promise the fighters’ salaries can be tremendous for the following seven years.” The Benn deal, which former UFC champion Demetrius Johnson claimed was a “flex” to make boxing appear like one thing Zuffa was prepared to spend, is probably the most direct instance to this point of how White desires to make use of that new cash and publicity for crossover tasks.
UFC fighter pay has been on the heart of a long-running debate, which is why Dana White’s feedback after Zuffa Boxing 04 landed maintain particular weight. Critics say that whereas TKO Group’s UFC income has soared to an estimated $1.4 billion in 2024, the share of that income coming from fighters is within the mid-teens, far under the roughly 50% in leagues just like the NFL and NBA, in keeping with reviews and analyst breakdowns. This hole provides to the notion that, regardless of White’s promotion of the file enterprise and his promise throughout his time at Paramount that “everybody wins,” the typical UFC athlete’s wage stays low in comparison with the corporate’s revenue.
A decade-long antitrust lawsuit introduced by fighters that accused Zuffa and the UFC of utilizing restrictive covenants and market energy to suppress wages resulted in a $375 million settlement that gained preliminary approval from a Nevada choose in late 2024, adopted by one other lawsuit led by Phil Davis in 2025 alleging continued anticompetitive practices.
On the identical time, White has repeatedly defended the UFC’s construction, telling media shops like GQ and 60 Minutes that fighters are being paid “what they’re speculated to be paid,” and insisting that his $7.7 billion Paramount contract “trickles down” by way of elevated bonuses and enhancements to his contract, at the same time as celebrities like Justin Gaethje have publicly questioned why his pay hasn’t elevated to match his new contract.
Whether or not that $15 million degree turns into something just like the norm is one other query. Even Johnson has warned {that a} payout of that measurement is unlikely to be sustainable in the long run, particularly for a fighter who’s rebuilding his fame.
