Dana White's Strategic Moves: Garcia, Benn, and Benavidez

Dana White didn’t just sign Conor Benn and Jai Opetaia. He moved two pieces into position on a much bigger chessboard.

The real targets sit a weight class and a contract clause away: Ryan Garcia and David Benavidez. Both are one fight from free agency. Both are already circling Zuffa Boxing’s orbit. And Zuffa has made sure they’ve had a front-row seat to what life could look like on the other side.

Ryan Garcia: Falling Out of Love With Golden Boy

Garcia’s relationship with Oscar De La Hoya has been frayed for years. Public spats, lawsuits, pointed comments. The trust has gone. What’s left is a fighter who clearly wants out and a promoter who can’t give him what he’s already tasted elsewhere.

That taste came in April 2023.

Garcia’s showdown with Gervonta “Tank” Davis wasn’t just a mega fight; it was his awakening. Under the PBC and Showtime machine, the event delivered 1.2 million pay-per-view buys and a $22.8 million gate. The lights were brighter, the buzz was louder, and the machine around him actually felt like a machine.

He saw what a real super fight looked like when it’s promoted at full throttle. Then he went back to Golden Boy. And sued.

He couldn’t break free then. The contract held. But time has done what lawyers couldn’t. Garcia is now down to his final fight with Golden Boy, and Zuffa has spent that time making itself feel like home.

The Benn fight sealed it.

Zuffa Boxing and TKO handed Conor Benn more than $30 million across two fights, in part to dangle a stage big enough for Garcia. The event was sold like a blockbuster: heavy marketing, wall-to-wall coverage, the kind of push that makes even a star feel bigger. Garcia walked into that week a headliner. He walked out feeling like a phenomenon.

He said as much on Uncrowned on Monday, openly praising his time with Dana White’s outfit. Those aren’t throwaway comments. They’re a public soft launch.

Look at how the show was framed. Officially, Garcia-Benn was a Ring Magazine-funded event. On paper, it wasn’t a Zuffa show. On TV, on social media, on Paramount+, it absolutely was. The branding screamed TKO and Zuffa. White played the promoter in full view, steering the narrative, front and center.

De La Hoya? Invisible. No presence in the buildup, no cameo on fight night, no photo ops. That wasn’t an accident. That was a statement.

To fans, Garcia already looks like a Zuffa fighter. To Garcia, Zuffa already looks like the promoter he’s been searching for.

Conor Benn: Breaking Eddie Hearn’s Heart

Benn’s role in this story goes beyond being a dance partner for Garcia. He was also the knife Zuffa twisted into Eddie Hearn’s ribs.

For Matchroom, Benn wasn’t just another name on the books. He was one of the pillars, mentioned in the same breath as Katie Taylor and Anthony Joshua. A fighter who debuted under Hearn, who grew under the Matchroom banner, who Hearn defended relentlessly through the storm of multiple failed drug tests for clomiphene.

Hearn fought for him. Publicly. Repeatedly. Emotionally.

Then Benn walked.

When Benn signed with Zuffa, it wasn’t just a business loss; it was a message. If Hearn’s golden boy could go, anyone could. No fighter is “off limits” anymore. Every contract, every relationship, every “we’re family” speech is now vulnerable to a bigger check and a bigger platform.

Bob Arum’s old warning came back to life: don’t fall in love with your fighters. They will break your heart.

Hearn just learned it the hard way.

For Zuffa, Benn delivered more than leverage over a rival. He opened the UK market. Benn’s profile helped Zuffa secure a lucrative TV deal with Sky Sports and gave the promotion a serious foothold in British boxing. The payoff is already visible.

And that was only half the plan.

Jai Opetaia: The Path to Benavidez and War With the Belts

The Garcia-Benn card did more than showcase a superstar. It quietly staged the next move.

In the co-main event, Jai Opetaia dismantled Noel Mikaelian, stopping him in nine rounds. He didn’t waste a second afterward. He called out David Benavidez on the mic. Benavidez, seated ringside, climbed through the ropes and squared up with him.

That face-off wasn’t spontaneous chaos. It was choreography.

Benavidez has one fight left with PBC and Sampson Lewkowicz. Dana White has made no attempt to hide his interest. “The Mexican Monster” is on his hit list, and Opetaia is the bait.

Benavidez’s story is one of frustration at the highest level. At 168 pounds, he was the most proven contender, yet never landed the Canelo Alvarez fight that should have defined his era. He went to 175, chased Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, and still never got the defining dance partner.

Now he’s at cruiserweight, staring at a chance to fight the consensus No. 1 in the division. Beat Opetaia, and he doesn’t just grab a title shot. He takes a huge step toward the pound-for-pound throne he’s been chasing without the name to anchor it.

Benavidez has shown again and again he isn’t in this to coast. He wants the toughest fights. He wants the danger. Offer him Oleksandr Usyk at heavyweight and you get the sense he’d sign before the ink dries.

Zuffa knows exactly what kind of fighter it’s courting. That’s why the carrot is already dangling: Opetaia, a marquee event, and a pile of money waiting on the other side of his final PBC outing.

There’s more. Garcia and Benavidez have already spoken about sharing a card next May. If Zuffa locks in Garcia, it suddenly has the perfect stage for a Benavidez one-off. One night under that kind of promotion might be all it takes to make a permanent move feel inevitable.

It worked on Garcia. Zuffa is betting it will work again.

Opetaia vs. the Sanctioning Bodies

Opetaia isn’t just a lure for Benavidez. He’s also a weapon in Zuffa’s long-running war with boxing’s alphabet soup.

Dana White’s battle with the sanctioning bodies has gone quieter recently as Zuffa has done more business with them, but the goal hasn’t shifted. He wants their power reduced, if not outright broken.

Opetaia’s treatment has handed him the perfect case study.

The Australian southpaw has made no secret of his ambition: win every belt, become undisputed, leave no argument about who rules cruiserweight. The sanctioning bodies have made that mission as chaotic as possible.

In March, the IBF stripped him. This past Saturday, he beat WBC champion Noel Mikaelian, only for the belt to be declared vacant less than 48 hours later. The best cruiserweight in the world, by almost any measure, is now walking around without a major belt.

To the public, that makes the IBF and WBC look absurd. To Zuffa, it makes them vulnerable.

Opetaia has already gone on the offensive. After being stripped in March, he filed a lawsuit accusing the IBF of unlawfully taking his title as retaliation for signing with Zuffa. He’s not just an example anymore. He’s the spearhead.

Zuffa can point to him and say: this is what’s wrong with boxing. This is why fighters need a different kind of power structure. And they can do it with a world-class talent in their corner.

The Endgame: Two Generals for a New Era

Conor Benn and Jai Opetaia were big signings. They brought markets, storylines, TV deals, and legal leverage. But they were never the destination.

They were the bridge.

Benn pulled Ryan Garcia into Zuffa’s world and shattered Eddie Hearn’s sense of security. Opetaia opened the door to David Benavidez and gave Zuffa a live case against the sanctioning bodies.

Garcia and Benavidez sit on the edge of free agency, both poised to become the defining American faces of the post-Canelo era. Neither has signed with Zuffa. Not yet.

But the board is set. The pieces are in place. The money is real, the stages are big, and the contrast with traditional promoters grows sharper with every event.

TKO’s war on boxing is still in its opening rounds. If it lands Garcia and Benavidez, those rounds might be all it ever needed.