When Dana White, alongside Nick Khan and Saudi advisor Turki Alalshikh, launched Zuffa Boxing, fighter pay was a major concern in the boxing world. However, when the UFC CEO signed Britain’s Conor Benn, announced on February 20, it shook both the MMA and boxing communities. Why? 

Benn’s signing with Zuffa came at a price tag of $15 million for just one fight in the newly formed promotion, per Dan Rafael. The amount, of course, is in sharp contrast to what fighters make in the UFC. So, it has prompted a UFC legend and a former UFC champion to speak out on the matter. 

Sean O’Malley can’t wrap his head around Dana White’s $15 million move

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sean O’Malley, a former UFC bantamweight champion, admitted the number sounds almost unreal. 

“For me, it’s so hard to believe,” he said, explaining that even after hearing about it from his coach, he remains skeptical. “It doesn’t mean it’s true. I don’t know, it could very well be true, I can’t imagine it being true.”

“I don’t even know who Conor Benn is. He’s supposed to be a pretty big name in boxing, but I’ve never heard of him. If they’re really paying him $15 million… I’m not f—king making $15 million a fight.”

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That’s eye-opening coming from O’Malley, who has mostly received the promotion’s favor thanks to his popularity among fans and fan-friendly fighting style. The UFC itself had promoted ‘Suga’ Sean heavily, and to learn that even the top fighters in the UFC don’t make that much money says everything that needs to be said about White’s $15 million “flex.”

For context, O’Malley headlined the biggest UFC event to date: UFC 306 (Riyadh Season Noche UFC) at the Las Vegas Sphere in 2024. The event shattered the promotion’s previous live gate record of $17 million (UFC 205 at the MSG) with a hefty $22 million. O’Malley’s share from the show? A reported $3.2 million. And Benn is getting five times that!

Concerns over fighter pay in the UFC, meanwhile, haven’t exactly faded into the background. The promotion agreed to a $375 million settlement in the antitrust case Le vs. Zuffa. And the legal battle isn’t over. A separate lawsuit, Johnson vs. Zuffa, is still ongoing.

That second case similarly accuses Zuffa of suppressing fighter compensation and maintaining monopsony power in the MMA market. Replicating that kind of control in boxing is far more complicated, largely because the sport operates with multiple competing promoters and is safeguarded by the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.

In response, Zuffa has reportedly pushed for amendments to the Ali Act that would allow it to apply a UFC-style promotional model to boxing. Still, O’Malley isn’t the only one who has raised eyebrows at Dana White’s recent $15 million “flex.”

Demetrious Johnson has never heard of Conor Benn

“Is $15M worth having Conor Benn?” Demetrious Johnson asked in his latest YouTube video. “It’s the first time I’ve heard of him. From what everybody tells me, he is a very good boxer. But is Khamzat Chimaev making $15M? Is Ilia Topuria making $15M? Is Merab [Dvalishvili] making $15M? 

“We don’t know because those numbers are always hidden, but I truly believe it’s a flex from Dana White,” Johnson, a former UFC flyweight champion, added. 

What adds weight to Johnson’s remarks is the Brit’s prior association with Matchroom Boxing, headed by White’s longtime rival Eddie Hearn. The two promoters have traded verbal jabs in interviews for months.

At the end of the day, Dana White has grabbed headlines thanks to his move, and it has signaled to other big names in boxing that they could make big money in White’s promotion. This is troubling for other promoters, as White has made it clear he is here to take over. What do you think about O’Malley and Johnson’s statements?