Conor Benn challenges Ryan Garcia for the WBC welterweight title in Las Vegas this weekend.

It is Benn’s first try for world honours in what is his second fight since that stunning rematch victory over arch-rival Chris Eubank Jr at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November.

Since then, ‘The Destroyer’ has cut ties with long-time promoters Eddie Hearn and Matchroom to join forces with Zuffa Boxing on a lucrative contract, debuting under their banner with a gruelling unanimous decision win over former super-lightweight champion Regis Prograis on the Tyson Fury-Arslanbek Makhmudov undercard in London in April.

Benn later signed a new five-fight, two-and-a-half-year deal with Dana White’s Zuffa, which begins with a high-profile title showdown against Garcia for a belt he has long been targeting.

It is a maiden defence for Garcia, who bounced back from his shock loss to Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero in a WBA ‘regular’ welterweight title fight in New York last year by thoroughly outpointing and dethroning Mario Barrios in February.

That secured the former interim WBC lightweight champion his first full world title, after which he called out the likes of Shakur Stevenson before his inevitable collision course with Benn, who was made mandatory challenger at 147 pounds by the WBC in December.

It will be Benn’s first outing at welterweight since he knocked out Chris van Heerden in the second round in Manchester in April 2022, having fought Eubank Jr twice up at super-middleweight before taking on Prograis at a catchweight of 150 pounds.

He weighed over 150 pounds for previous outings against both Rodolfo Orozco and Peter Dobson in 2023 and 2024.

Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn for the WBC welterweight title takes place on Saturday September 12, 2026 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

The event being held in Las Vegas means UK fight fans are in for a familiar late night - or an early morning, depending on your preferred approach.

Ring walks for the main event are expected at around 4am BST on Sunday morning, which is 11pm ET and 8pm PT on Saturday night in the USA.

The main card is set to get under way at approximately 1am BST, which is 8pm ET and 5pm PT. As ever, those exact timings are subject to change.

Those who have purchased the event can watch it live on the DAZN website and app.

The event is being streamed on Paramount+ in the USA.

Saturday’s undercard is headlined by a cruiserweight title fight between Zuffa and The Ring champion Jai Opetaia and WBC title-holder Noel Mikaelian, which Zuffa insist will go ahead as scheduled despite Don King Productions sending a cease and desist letter this week alleging that they hold exclusive promoting rights regarding Mikaelian.

Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn

Jai Opetaia vs Noel Mikaelian

Da'Mazion Vanhouter vs Raphael Akpejiori

Mark Magsayo vs Andres Cortes

Oswaldo Molina vs Pablo Rubio Jr

Abel Gonzalez vs Raul Salomon

Vlad Panin vs Dakota Linger

Jose Ramirez vs Alexis Rocha

Sean Garcia vs Abraham Morales

It is very difficult to know quite what to expect in Las Vegas this weekend, which is what makes this title bout so intriguing.

Benn was largely dominated in his first fight against Eubank Jr, returned the favour in the rematch and then made hard work of veteran Prograis, who announced his retirement immediately after the bout.

We have not seen Benn compete at welterweight for almost four-and-a-half years, while he worryingly admitted this week that he had been “dragged down to the pits of hell” during his weight cut and would immediately vacate the title if he beats Garcia before moving back up.

How he handles that gruelling cut is likely to prove a crucial factor, with the likes of former opponent Chris Algieri having expressed concern over pictures of Benn looking “drawn” and gaunt after twice fighting Eubank Jr at 160 pounds and weighed as much as 185 pounds.

Garcia is even more unpredictable, outclassing an unconvincing champion in Barrios after being majorly upset by Romero. He was brushed aside by Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and beat up Devin Haney in a shocker, only to later be handed a one-year doping ban as the result of that latter fight was changed to a ‘no contest’.

Sublime on his day, there is simply no guessing what version of Garcia you might get for any given fight. But if he’s fully focused and puts together that power and mesmerising hand speed, he is one of the best in the business.

Fireworks appear guaranteed in one of the fights of the year, but we expect a drained Benn to fall short in his last welterweight clash.

Garcia to win by decision.

Garcia to win: 1/3

Benn to win: 13/5

Garcia to win on points/by decision: 5/2

Garcia to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 1/1

Benn to win on points/by decision: 6/1

Benn to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 5/1

Odds via UK betting sites (subject to change).