Conor Benn does not have a plan, and the only thing he named as next was time with his children.
The 29-year-old posted a statement on X on Monday morning, two days after Ryan Garcia knocked him out in the second round at T-Mobile Arena to retain the WBC welterweight title on the biggest card Zuffa Boxing has run to date.
Everybody keeps asking “What’s next for Conor Benn?” The truth is, I don’t have the answer.
Benn went on to describe what a decade in the sport has cost the people around him, saying his family and his kids have paid more than anyone and have had to share him with boxing their entire lives. He thanked the fans who travelled to Las Vegas and those who stayed up into the early hours in the UK.
Dana White Got There First
White was asked at the post-fight press conference what came next for Benn, and his answer reads like a preview of Monday’s statement.
The kid goes home, enjoys some time with his family, relax, enjoy the success that he’s had this year, and when he’s ready to fight again, he calls us, and we’ll put something together.
White added that Benn will fight again and put the night down to how good Garcia is rather than anything his own fighter did wrong. Benn did not speak after the loss and was sent to hospital as a precaution, which White framed as standard practice, citing 25 years of UFC events without a death or serious injury.
An Expensive Pause For Zuffa Boxing
Benn is among the most expensive names Zuffa has pulled out of traditional boxing. He left Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing in February for a reported $15 million one-fight deal, a move he called an opportunity he couldn’t refuse, then signed a five-fight extension running through 2028 in April.
Saturday was the first bout under that extension. It lasted four minutes and 25 seconds, with referee Thomas Taylor waving it off at 1:25 of the second round after a right hand dropped Benn and he stopped returning fire on the ropes.
Benn had also spent fight week saying he was moving back up in weight afterwards regardless of the result, having made 147 pounds for the first time since April 2022. On Monday he gave no timeline and named no division.
