Darshan Desai Uncrowned Mon, October 19, 2026 at 5:51 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shakur Stevenson's partnership with Zuffa Boxing was brief and unsuccessful.
Dana White's boxing promotion released the four-division champion without a single fight under the banner, and Stevenson is now a free agent again, he announced Monday.
Stevenson says it was he who asked Zuffa Boxing for his release, and it was granted over the weekend.
He initially announced a multi-fight deal with Zuffa in July, thought to be worth well into the eight figures.
Stevenson said in his YouTube announcement :
"I've been working my ass off, staying focused, staying in shape. I've been in camp for like eight weeks preparing for fights that I was told was going to happen, and it has not happened. But look, it is what it is. This is the business of boxing. I'm not mad at anyone. I'm not pointing no fingers.
"Upon all of these issues and things that's been going on, I've requested to be released from Zuffa Boxing. Over the weekend, my request has been granted, and I'm now officially a free agent.
"This time, I want to tell the fans and tell everyone in the public that I'm now taking my career in my own hands, and I'm starting my own promotional company, and I'm willing to work with other promoters and anybody else that's out there that's willing to be serious about my career as I am about my career."
Stevenson, Uncrowned's No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer , has not fought since his dominant win over Teofimo Lopez in January.
Zuffa Boxing was talking to multiple potential opponents for Stevenson's debut under the banner, including WBA super lightweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell, but the promotion was not willing to satisfy Russell's financial demands — thought to be around $3 million.
When those talks failed, attention diverted to trying to make a fight with fellow pound-for-pound boxer Devin Haney. Haney and Stevenson were in negotiations earlier this year until Haney signed directly with broadcast company DAZN, making a Stevenson fight difficult, as Zuffa has a contract with Paramount.
With Zuffa's inability to make a big fight for Stevenson, though, they became willing to reignite talks for Stevenson-Haney on Nov. 28 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, a fight that would air on DAZN.
Weight, however, was a material stumbling block in those discussions.
"At the 11th hour, after agreeing to 144 [pounds] and then 145, [Haney] had his lawyer email and say that he would only fight at 147 [pounds]," Stevenson posted on social media over the weekend. "Big waste of everybody's time."
Haney claims to have agreed to fight at 145 pounds, but then says Stevenson asked for a rehydration clause, which he wasn't willing to do.
Stevenson's team told Uncrowned's Ariel Helwani that he "has been frustrated as of late" with the direction of his career.
Now that Stevenson enters the market again as a free agent, he may follow in the footsteps of Haney and Lopez and search for a deal directly with DAZN.
Source: Sports
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