BOXXER Sues Zuffa Boxing Over Alleged Fighter Poaching

BOXXER’s lawsuit against Zuffa Boxing, filed in English courts on June 5, 2026, accuses Dana White’s new boxing promotion, Sky Sports, and promoter Shaa Wasmund of unlawfully interfering with BOXXER’s fighter contracts and poaching boxers who Ben Shalom’s company says were still under binding deals. BOXXER asked the court for urgent injunctive relief to keep three of those fighters off Zuffa Boxing’s first UK card the next day. The event went ahead anyway, with all three competing.¹

What BOXXER Is Alleging

The core claim is unlawful contractual interference. BOXXER says Zuffa Boxing signed fighters who were still contractually tied to BOXXER, and that Sky Sports and Wasmund helped bring the deals about. Wasmund is alleged to have assisted Zuffa Boxing in securing its Sky Sports broadcast agreement and to have participated in interference with BOXXER’s fighter, staff, and broadcaster contracts.¹

Shalom put it plainly: “You can’t just go in and ignore that fighters are under contract and being paid by another promoter.”² After the Bournemouth event he called Zuffa Boxing’s conduct “scandalous,” while acknowledging he did not know whether the fighters had been offered inducements to break their agreements, saying he was “as confused as everyone else.”³ Dana White publicly dismissed the suit.

The Three Fighters at the Center of the Case

Three boxers scheduled for Zuffa Boxing 7 in Bournemouth on June 6, 2026, are at the heart of the dispute.

Chris Billam-Smith, the former WBO cruiserweight champion, was announced as a Zuffa Boxing signing on April 13, 2026. BOXXER says he was still inside an exclusive negotiating period and that BOXXER held a matching right entitling it to match any outside offer. Billam-Smith says his BOXXER deal expired at the end of 2025.²

Sam Hickey, a Scottish middleweight prospect, announced his Zuffa Boxing deal on May 24, 2026. BOXXER says he remained bound by a long-term promotional contract.⁴

Jack Massey was scheduled to face Cheavon Clarke on the undercard. He is not named as a formal subject of the action, but BOXXER has said it intends to argue he had at least one fight left on his BOXXER contract.¹

The Failed Injunction and Zuffa Boxing 7

BOXXER asked the English courts for urgent injunctive relief to stop Billam-Smith, Hickey, and Massey from fighting the following night. Zuffa Boxing rejected the claims and pressed ahead with the card.⁵ There is no public record of a court ruling on the injunction before the fights took place; the event simply proceeded at the Bournemouth International Centre, Zuffa Boxing’s first card on UK soil.⁶

Billam-Smith headlined and stopped Ryan Rozicki by TKO after the seventh round when Rozicki’s corner pulled him out. Hickey stopped Todd Tompkins in the second round and took the card’s Performance of the Night award.⁷

Why the Dispute Started

BOXXER’s exclusive four-year Sky Sports broadcast deal ran from 2021 through June 2025. When it expired, Sky Sports did not renew, and instead signed multi-year agreements with Zuffa Boxing and Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions. Zuffa Boxing is a subsidiary of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of UFC and WWE.¹ Losing that broadcast partner reshaped BOXXER’s UK footing and preceded the fighter departures now in dispute.

BOXXER is separately suing Josh Wischussen, its former head of boxing, alleging he undermined the Sky Sports renewal by communicating with the broadcaster about a rival venture while still employed by BOXXER. Wasmund and Sky Sports were later added as co-defendants in that case as well.⁸

Where Things Stand

The lawsuit against Zuffa Boxing, Sky Sports, and Wasmund was active in the English courts as of early June 2026, and no court ruling on the underlying contractual claims has been publicly reported. Shalom said after Zuffa Boxing 7 that more detail on the dispute would surface within three weeks.³ The parallel action against Wischussen was also ongoing.⁸

1
Yahoo Sports. Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing Hit With Lawsuit From Boxxer Over Alleged Unlawful Contractual Interference
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Yardbarker. Boxxer Sues Zuffa Boxing Over Billam-Smith, Hickey Contracts
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BoxingScene. Ben Shalom Accuses Zuffa Boxing of Scandalous Conduct in Contract Dispute
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MMA Mania. Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing Already Hit With Lawsuit Claiming Unlawful Poaching of Two UK Fighters
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BBC Sport. Billam-Smith Fight Set to Proceed
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Boxing Insider. Zuffa Boxing 07 Results: Billam-Smith Stops Rozicki in Zuffa Boxing UK Debut
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UFC. Zuffa Boxing 07 Billam-Smith vs Rozicki Results Highlights Scorecards Bournemouth
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SI. Zuffa Boxing Facing Second UK Lawsuit in Four Months