Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn are set to square off on Saturday night in Las Vegas for the WBC welterweight title in the main event. It all goes down from the T-Mobile Arena and streams live on Paramount+. Garcia finally captured his first world championship in February, dominating Mario Barrios over 12 rounds.
The victory offered some stability and career rejuvenation after a turbulent few years. Now, Garcia returns to T-Mobile Arena, the same building where he won the WBC welterweight title, for his first defense. Benn arrived in Las Vegas chasing something his father accomplished decades earlier: winning a world title in the United States.
The son of British boxing great Nigel Benn earned his opportunity after avenging his lone professional loss to Chris Eubank Jr. and beating former world champion Regis Prograis. every UFC numbered event and UFC Fight Night is included with your subscription! Plans start as low as $8.99/month or $89.99/year! On Friday, both men came in well under the 147-pound limit to make the bout official.
That's a massive win for fans everywhere, but especially positive for Benn, who himself said he had to endure a lot of suffering to make the weight. His last fight came at 160 pounds and he had not made 147 since 2022. Now, things can focus on what happens inside the ring on Saturday night instead of possible hijinx outside.
There's interesting fights beyond the main event. Namely, the co-main event sees a cruiserweight title clash between champions Jai Opetaia and Noel Mikaelian. Opetaia earned the Zuffa title in his promotional debut over Brandon Glanton.
Previously, he earned the IBF title and made five defenses of the belt before being stripped for taking a fight under the Zuffa banner. Mikaelian, meanwhile, currently holds the WBC title but the organization has said they won't sanction this bout. Elsewhere, heavyweight prospect Da'Mazion Vanhouter looks to make a splash when he battles Raphael Akpejiori, and former featherweight champion Mark Magsayo moves up to lightweight to take on Andres Cortes.
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