Shakur Stevenson Officially Sign With Zuffa Boxing

Zuffa Boxing has finally made the big signing everyone has been waiting for.

Seven months into its existence, the promotion has been slowly inching toward adding the blockbuster stars Dana White promised would come. Zuffa Boxing's biggest move to date is now official, with White officially announcing the signing of WBO and The Ring junior welterweight champion Shakur Stevenson.

White made the move official on ESPN's SportsCenter.

Zuffa Boxing signs Shakur Stevenson

"I want to make the biggest and best fights happen and I want to show the world that I am the best in the world," White told SportsCenter before going on to make the announcement. "We have signed Shakur Stevenson to a multi-year, multi-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing."

"I want to make the biggest and best fights happen and I want to show the world that I am the best in the world."@ShakurStevenson joined @danawhite on SportsCenter to discuss his signing with Zuffa Boxing 🙌 pic.twitter.com/OTSSSNi49D
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 9, 2026

The 25-0 champion is now onto his third promoter in as many years. After spending his first 22 professional fights with Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing, Stevenson signed with Matchroom Boxing in 2024. While his last three fights have been with Eddie Hearn, they were primarily promoted by Turki Alalshikh's Riyadh Season.

Stevenson is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Teofimo Lopez in April to win world titles in a fourth division. The one-sided victory shot him up the pound-for-pound rankings, where he currently sits No. 3 in Ring Magazine and No. 5 in ESPN and BoxingScene.

Stevenson is now the second current world champion under contract with Zuffa Boxing, joining The Ring cruiserweight titleholder Jai Opetaia. Aligning with the UFC-adjacent promotion cost Opetaia the IBF belt, adding further intrigue to the next few months of Stevenson's career.

Further details of Shakur Stevenson's signing emerge

Stevenson's new deal with Zuffa Boxing would seemingly take him out of the running for many of the major fights he has been pushing for, but the terms of his deal appear to contradict that notion. Recent reports suggest that White will help him pursue blockbuster fights with athletes outside of the Zuffa Boxing umbrella.

Stevenson made sure to only sign with the promotion on the condition that he would still be able to fight the biggest names in boxing, ESPN's Andreas Hale reported.

"I just spoke to @ShakurStevenson, who told me he would only sign with Zuffa Boxing if he could get the biggest and best opponents in boxing," Hale tweeted. "So that means there will be no fight with 'Rayo' Valenzuela. He shot that fight down immediately. But fights with Haney or Garcia are in play."

Hale also reported that Stevenson chose to sign with White because the "money is insane."

I just spoke to @ShakurStevenson, who told me he would only sign with Zuffa if he could get the biggest and best opponents in boxing. So that means there will be no fight with "Rayo" Valenzuela. He shot that fight down immediately. But fights with Haney or Garcia are in play.
— Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) July 9, 2026

Hale's tweet came shortly after Devin Haney hinted at a similar potential announcement. Haney, who has also been linked to Zuffa Boxing, teased "big news coming" on X roughly an hour before White announced the Stevenson signing on SportsCenter.

Whether Haney's tweet referred to Stevenson's signing or a potential fight with the pound-for-pound star remains to be seen in the coming weeks.

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