Conor Benn is a mercenary no more. Call him a Zuffa company man.

After walking away from longtime promoter Matchroom Boxing to sign a one-fight deal that he parlayed into a win over Regis Prograis in April, Benn has locked into a multi-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing that should carry the 29-year-old through much of the prime of his remaining career.

Benn, 25-1 (14 KOs), a welterweight from Essex, England, and son of two-weight titleholder Nigel Benn, signed a reported five-fight deal that was announced on Zuffa Boxing’s social media channels Friday.

“Our visions were aligned,” Conor Benn said of the new promotional union. “Our goal remains the same – to get that world title, but more importantly, to get people the fights that they want. Give people the megafights. If you guys want it, you guys can get it.”

Public details of the contract and immediate plans for Benn were limited, though in a joint appearance with Benn on ESPN’s “First Take” on Friday, Zuffa Boxing CEO and president Dana White described it as “a two-and-a-half-year, five-fight deal.”

White, who, along with Saudi Arabian financier and General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh, launched Zuffa Boxing in January, has vowed to create the new boxing promotion in the image of the UFC – the other major combat sports interest he presides over – and continues to steadily building the promotion’s roster.

“We’re ready to put on some big fights,” White said in the video announcement of Benn’s deal on Zuffa Boxing’s socials.

Precisely what that means for Benn isn’t yet known, but it’s clear what he wants. After rebounding from a unanimous decision loss with a win in the rubber match with fellow scion of British boxing royalty Chris Eubank Jnr, Benn rode his rising fame to a one-off deal with Zuffa, a solid win over a shopworn former titleholder in Prograis and is now hoping to speak into existence a matchup with current WBC welterweight titleholder Ryan Garcia.

“Of course it’s the priority, getting that Garcia fight done,” Benn said in a Friday interview with Sky Sports. “But, listen, I’m not short of options. There’s a lot of fighters calling me out, big names calling me out.

“So, God willing, we get the Garcia fight done for the WBC world title. You know, I’m mandatory now – I’m in the No. 1 position for that belt, and I’ve worked extremely hard to get to that position. But again, if Ryan don’t want it, then there’s plenty of fish out there.”

Benn may already be fishing when it comes to targeting Garcia, 25-2 (20 KOs), for a megafight. Garcia is aligned with Golden Boy Promotions, whose CEO and chairman Oscar De La Hoya has frequently feuded with White. Even if the salve of a massive payday for all soothed hurt feelings, Benn and Garcia might still have a sanctioning body problem to solve.

As part of his UFC-style vision, White has attempted to build Zuffa as an independent ecosystem, ignoring boxing’s traditional four major sanctioning bodies. But White has tried to both have and eat his cake, the best example being a Zuffa bait-and-switch that resulted in the IBF stripping cruiserweight titleholder Jai Opetaia after his March win over Brandon Glanton.

If the WBC reacts similarly, and if White doesn’t play nice with De La Hoya – which he has rarely deigned to do with anyone he considers a rival – a Benn-Garcia fight may be dead on arrival.

Benn has his big contract. But whether the big fights White is promising him are also on the way is far less certain.

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.