Shakur Stevenson leaves Zuffa after three months

The undefeated champion plans to launch his own promotion amid reports of failed negotiations.

Shakur Stevenson is a free agent again after just three months. The undefeated four-division world champion has apparently been released by Zuffa and is now planning to start his own organization.

Shakur Stevenson signed with Dana White’s promotion in July, but has not yet fought a single bout under their banner. The planned fight against Devin Haney fell through, and no other viable option has emerged yet. Shakur Stevenson, however, doesn’t seem to be letting that get him down and now plans to take much more control of his career path himself.

"I am taking my career in my own hands and starting my own promotional company and I'm willing to work with other promoters and anybody else that's willing to be as serious about my career as I am"

he said.

He also says, however, that he’s not angry at anyone at all—it’s just part of the sport. It’s still a little strange, though, since several articles have already suggested that he should leave the promotion because he allegedly demanded $15 million for a fight. But as noted, these are just rumors and nothing has been officially confirmed. If that’s true, though, he has absolutely no right to be mad at anyone, if anything, it’s the other way around. So far, though, we’ve only heard from Shakur Stevenson. It’ll be interesting to see what else comes out in the next few days.

I can definitely imagine that money was a major issue. Shakur Stevenson is already somewhat known for demanding very high sums, and it wouldn’t surprise me if that were the case again. Still, we should hold off on jumping to conclusions until something official comes out.