Shakur Stevenson Leaves Zuffa After 102 Days Without a Fight

Shakur Stevenson left Zuffa on October 19, ending a 102-day spell without throwing a single punch. Stevenson had signed with the promotion in July and spent eight weeks preparing for fights that never materialized before securing his release.

Nick Khan criticized boxing’s established promoters on The Varsity podcast for letting major broadcasters down through slow decisions, poor communication, and a failure to deliver. “They like it. They want the big prize fights, but ultimately, the partners that they chose — they chose, pardon me — under-delivered for them.”

Stevenson was reportedly offered around $7 million to face Jose Valenzuela after seeking $15 million per fight.

Conor Benn reportedly secured $15 million for his original one-fight Zuffa agreement. TKO president Mark Shapiro explained that Saudi partner Sela funded Benn’s purse rather than TKO itself, meaning the two deals were not directly comparable.

Stevenson had been linked to Devin Haney, while a proposed January clash with Jose Valenzuela also failed to materialize.

Zuffa is reportedly yet to assemble the kind of elite roster needed to challenge boxing’s established promoters despite major signings including Stevenson, Opetaia, and Benn.

Dana White initially outlined plans to move away from the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO, replacing their influence with Zuffa’s own titles and rankings. White subsequently opened the door to working with existing sanctioning organizations where necessary to make fights happen after running into problems with established champions including Jai Opetaia.

Zuffa has a major Paramount agreement and must meet the same standards as other boxing promoters regarding decision speed and delivery. Dana White has asked the boxing world to judge Zuffa by its body of work heading into 2027.

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