"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. 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."
"We at TKO with Sela collectively identified Conor Benn, as someone we wanted to sign for one of those super fights. The plan, instead, is for Benn to compete on a bigger card similar to the Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez event this past September, rather than on a weekly Zuffa Boxing card streamed on Paramount+."
Conor Benn's reported $15 million contract with Zuffa Boxing sparked controversy among UFC fighters who questioned why a boxer outside the promotion received significantly higher pay than most octagon athletes. UFC fighters like Sean O'Malley and Michael Page expressed disbelief and disappointment. TKO Group Holdings president Mark Shapiro clarified during a financial call that Saudi Arabian partners, including Sela and Turki Alalshikh, fully funded Benn's signing. The contract is part of a strategy to stage two to four annual super fights separate from weekly Paramount+ cards, similar to the Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez event. Shapiro attributed controversy partly to Eddie Hearn's involvement.
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