The UFC president and CEO replied “every penny of it” when he was asked, after Benn’s second-round KO defeat to Ryan Garcia on Saturday night, about the past six months.

Zuffa reportedly paid Benn $15 million for his first fight with the emerging promotional company, an unremarkable unanimous points victory over huge underdog Regis Prograis on April 11.

Benn agreed to a multi-fight contract with Zuffa after he outpointed Prograis. His devastating defeat to Garcia marked the first fight of that new agreement.

The 29-year-old Brit challenged Garcia for his WBC 147-pound crown in his first appearance at the welterweight limit in nearly 4½ years. Benn’s draining weight cut cost him, as did abandoning defense against Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs), who dropped him with a right hand 45 seconds into the second round and stopped him on his feet.

The son of legend Nigel Benn lost by knockout for the first time in 10 years as a pro. He’ll move up to at least the middleweight limit of 160 when he returns, but White wouldn’t speculate about what might be next for Benn (25-2, 14 KOs).

"The kid goes home, enjoys some time with his family, relax, enjoy the success that he’s had this year, and when he’s ready to fight again, he calls us and we’ll put something together and we’ll figure him out," White said. "He will fight again and it’s one of those nights. Ryan Garcia is that good. That’s how good Ryan Garcia really is and he proved it here tonight in spectacular fashion, which we’ve been saying leading up to tonight, if he did it, could he be the face of boxing?”

A third fight against English rival Chris Eubank Jr. could still do big business in the UK, where they split a pair of middleweight matches in 2025.

Whoever Benn boxes in his comeback bout, Garcia gained newfound respect for him after their heart-to-heart talk following their fight and will root for him to do “great things” for the remainder of his career.

“He’s exactly what I thought he was,” Garcia said. “He just needs to gain a little bit more experience. I don’t think he has enough experience at this point. I just don’t think he was as experienced as me. But I think he will be back. He went in and tried to fight me. … I think that he needs to be a little bit more patient."