Zuffa Boxing is planning 12 to 16 events in 2026, including international fight cards and up to four marquee super fights annually, according to TKO Group Holdings President Mark Shapiro, who outlined the venture’s ambitions during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
The promotion, which launched in January 2026 as a joint venture between TKO and Saudi Arabia’s Sela, has already secured a media rights deal with Paramount+ covering the United States, Canada, and Latin America, with additional territories currently in negotiation.
“We’re encouraged by our initial progress in 2025, securing a media rights deal with Paramount Plus across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America,” Shapiro said. “We are signing a strong portfolio of boxers to our roster and already planning to schedule a 2026 calendar of fight cards that takes us outside the United States.”
He added: “All I can say is, look out. Our aim is to build this into a juggernaut.”
Super Fights and the Sela Partnership
Beyond the regular Zuffa Boxing event calendar, Shapiro said the promotion will stage two to four super fights per year in partnership with Sela. The first confirmed event under that structure is Tyson Fury vs. Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, with Zuffa Boxing and Sela listed as co-promoters and Netflix streaming the card.
Shapiro also addressed the Conor Benn signing that made headlines earlier this month, clarifying that it is a one-fight deal funded by Sela — not Zuffa Boxing directly — under the same structure used for last year’s Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford event. He dismissed criticism from Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn as “stirring the pot in a fictional way” and said the story had “taken on a life of its own.”
“This is just one fight!” Shapiro said.
The super fight model is designed to build rivalries and showcase Zuffa Boxing fighters on the undercards of these larger events, expanding the promotion’s roster profile while Sela absorbs the cost of the headline bouts.
How the Venture Works
Shapiro laid out the financial structure of the joint venture in unusually specific terms. Sela funds all operations, while TKO carries no funding obligation. TKO collects a $10 million annual management fee for running the promotion, plus an additional $10 million services fee per super fight event and commissions on media rights deals it negotiates on behalf of the venture.
TKO earned 25 percent equity in Zuffa Boxing in 2025 and expects to reach roughly 50/50 ownership within a couple of years by hitting performance milestones that Shapiro said are already within reach.
“The way we structured the joint venture with our partners in Saudi Arabia — Sela specifically — is that they fund it,” Shapiro said. “We have no funding obligation. We’re going to build firm value.”
Zuffa Boxing is treated as an equity method investment in TKO’s financial reporting, meaning its revenue and losses are not consolidated into TKO’s headline numbers. The venture sits within TKO’s “Corporate and Other” segment alongside PBR and general administrative costs.
The Bigger Picture
TKO reported full-year 2025 revenue of $4.735 billion across its portfolio, which includes UFC, WWE, PBR, and IMG. The company’s 2026 guidance projects revenue of $5.675 to $5.775 billion, driven largely by new media rights deals for UFC and WWE with Paramount and Disney.
Shapiro positioned Zuffa Boxing as an additional growth channel with the same revenue streams TKO has built around its other properties — media rights, consumer licensing, ticket sales, site fees, and global partnerships. The integration with UFC, WWE, and PBR also gives TKO leverage in bundled negotiations with broadcast and streaming partners.
For a promotion that has existed for barely a month, the infrastructure is moving fast. The Paramount+ deal is done, international territories are in play, a London super fight is booked for April, and the 2026 calendar is being filled. Whether Zuffa Boxing can deliver on the scale Shapiro described will depend on how quickly it builds a roster deep enough to support a dozen-plus cards a year — but TKO is making clear it intends to treat boxing with the same operational machinery it built around mixed martial arts.
