Less than six months into its existence, Zuffa Boxing is already stirring controversy. As Dana White pushes aggressively into the sport, a rival promoter is fighting back. BOXXER’s Ben Shalom recently filed a lawsuit alleging Zuffa Boxing unlawfully poached two of his fighters, prompting White to address the first major legal battle facing the promotion.

“That’s not true,” White said during the Zuffa Boxing 7 post-fight presser. “No, that’ll play out publicly.”

Despite White’s denial, the alleged claims made by Shalom paint a different picture. The lawsuit itself came on the eve of Zuffa Boxing’s debut both in the UK and with broadcaster Sky Sports, which worked with Shalom’s Boxxer until their contract ran out in 2025. In the lawsuit, BOXXER alleges Zuffa unlawfully poached Chris Billam-Smith and Sam Hickey. Both fighters were part of Zuffa Boxing 7 on Saturday. 

Naturally, BOXXER is seeking “urgent injunctive relief” against both Zuffa Boxing and its former broadcaster. Meanwhile, Smith has argued that his contract with BOXXER expired in December 2025. However, the British promotion maintains that when Smith signed with Zuffa Boxing, it still held matching rights on any competing offer.

Matching rights allow a promoter to retain a boxer by matching the terms of a rival promotion’s offer. BOXXER also alleges that Zuffa Boxing signed Sam Hickey while he was still under contract with the company. This, however, isn’t the only controversial signing Zuffa Boxing has made this year. Earlier this year, Zuffa Boxing signed Jai Opetaia and Conor Benn, who were previously signed with Matchroom Boxing. 

Although neither fighter was under contract with Matchroom at the time, it came as a bit of a surprise. Eddie Hearn, Matchroom head, expressed shock over Benn’s choice to move to Zuffa in particular. This trend of aggressively signing fighters shows Zuffa Boxing’s approach to the sport. The dispute bears similarities to the legal battle that unfolded when Eddie Alvarez attempted to leave Bellator MMA for the UFC.

Bellator exercised its contractual matching rights to retain Alvarez, triggering a lawsuit that ultimately drew the UFC into the dispute. The case was eventually resolved when Bellator agreed to release Alvarez, clearing the way for him to sign with the UFC in 2014. In any case, though, both Zuffa Boxing and Dana White should have seen this lawsuit coming from a mile away. 

Ben Shalom had already warned Dana White about the lawsuit

Just last week, Shalom spoke to Seconds Out during an interview, where he openly claimed that he would sue Zuffa for poaching its fighters. 

“I think they see me and they think ‘Oh, he’s a nice guy, he’s not going to do anything,'” said Shalom. “You can’t just go in and ignore that fighters are under contract and being paid by another promoter. Look, I know where in the world of Trump and in the world of this and the world of that, but there’s still some sort of business practice.”

Shalom, of course, is referring to Dana White’s close friendship with President Donald Trump. The UFC CEO is even orchestrating the UFC Freedom 250 card on the White House South Lawn on June 14 with backing from Trump. However, there’s no evidence that the relationship has helped Dana White illegally poach fighters from other promotions. 

“They ignored that we had a matching right on Chris Billam-Smith completely,” Shalom added. “Not just a matching right but an exclusive negotiation period. They’re ignoring that other fighters on that fight are actually completely under contract. What are you supposed to do? It’s crazy, to be honest. 

“Thankfully, we live in a country where you can’t do those types of things.”

Having said that, it appears Zuffa Boxing has found itself in its first legal battle. But considering the number of lawsuits the UFC has been involved in over the years, there are several more to come.