Dana White isn’t just making a cameo at the Ryan Garcia-Conor Benn fight. He is involved because he founded and leads Zuffa Boxing, the boxing promotion presenting one of the biggest fights yet in White’s push into the sport.
Garcia will defend his welterweight world title against Benn on September 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the card streaming in the United States on Paramount+. Zuffa Boxing and Ring Magazine are presenting the event, while reporting on the fight has also identified Garcia’s longtime promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, as a co-promoter.
So the simplest way to understand White’s role is this: Zuffa Boxing is the promoter, Paramount+ is the U.S. broadcaster, and White is the central figure behind Zuffa Boxing.
Dana White Founded Zuffa Boxing
White’s connection to Garcia-Benn starts with Zuffa Boxing, a professional boxing promotion formed by TKO Group Holdings and entertainment company Sela.
Paramount describes White as the founder of Zuffa Boxing, while the original media-rights announcement identified him as part of the promotion’s leadership alongside Turki Alalshikh, Sela CEO Dr. Rakan Alharthy and WWE president and TKO board member Nick Khan.
That explains why White has been such a visible part of Garcia-Benn fight week.
White personally announced in July that the fight had been signed, and he has continued appearing alongside the fighters during its promotion. During the final faceoff, White even stepped between Garcia and Benn when their confrontation became heated.
This is also not simply a UFC event with boxing attached. Zuffa Boxing is a separate boxing promotion, although it operates within the same broader TKO ecosystem and borrows heavily from the centralized promotional model White helped establish with UFC.
Why Garcia vs. Benn Is on Paramount+
White’s presence also helps explain the Paramount+ connection.
Paramount and TKO announced a long-term rights agreement in September 2025 making Paramount+ the exclusive home of Zuffa Boxing in the United States, Canada and Latin America beginning in 2026. The initial plan called for 12 Zuffa Boxing cards during the first year.
Garcia-Benn is an especially important test of that relationship because it is the first Zuffa Boxing “Super Fight” on Paramount+, rather than one of the promotion’s regular numbered cards. Paramount is carrying the entire event for U.S. subscribers without a separate pay-per-view charge.
It also comes on the same day Paramount+ is carrying Noche UFC, creating a full day of combat sports across White’s two worlds. But the Garcia-Benn bout itself is a Zuffa Boxing promotion, not a UFC fight.
Conor Benn Is Signed to Zuffa Boxing — Ryan Garcia Is Different
There is another important distinction: White does not have the same promotional relationship with both main-event fighters.
Conor Benn signed with Zuffa Boxing in February 2026. White announced the signing himself, saying Benn would be a major addition to Zuffa’s growing roster and was ready to pursue a world title.
Garcia’s situation is more complicated.
Garcia has remained tied to Golden Boy Promotions, and the proposed Benn matchup previously produced a promotional dispute. Eddie Hearn said in June that DAZN had sent White a cease-and-desist connected to efforts to make Garcia-Benn, while reporting at the time also detailed objections from Golden Boy over staging the fight without its approval.
The fight ultimately got made, with Golden Boy identified in subsequent coverage as a co-promoter alongside Zuffa Boxing.
That makes Garcia-Benn more significant for White than just another boxing card. It shows Zuffa Boxing can put together a major event involving a star who is not simply one of its own contracted fighters, working across the promotional lines that have long complicated boxing matchmaking.
For fans wondering why Dana White keeps appearing beside Garcia and Benn on Paramount+, that’s the connection: White is there as the founder and driving promotional figure behind Zuffa Boxing, and Garcia-Benn is one of the clearest demonstrations yet of how seriously his new boxing venture intends to compete for major fights.
How Is Dana White Involved in the Garcia vs. Benn Fight on Paramount?