Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn undercard boosted by five fights including ex-unified world champion

The Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn bill is growing with just one week to go until the event.

Garcia and Benn will meet in a blockbuster Las Vegas tussle with the former’s WBC welterweight title on the line next weekend.

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It promises to be an exciting card with cruiserweight superstar Jai Opetaia looking to make a name for himself in Sin City.

The card is one of the biggest to be put on by Dana White‘s Zuffa Boxing since their launch.

And it has now grown further with a five-fight preliminary card announced before the main offering.

The new short-notice bill will see former unified super-lightweight champion Jose Ramirez make his return against Alexis Rocha in a welterweight meeting.

It will be his first fight in a year, and his first since losing to Devin Haney in New York’s Times Square last May.

Also on the preliminary bill, it is the battle of the unbeatens with Pablo Rubio taking on Oswaldo Molina at a 132lbs catchweight.

Undefeated Abel Gonzalez faces Raul Solomon at super-middleweight, Vlad Panin takes on Dakota Linger at 154lbs and Sean Garcia faces Abraham Morales at lightweight.

Garcia expects Benn weight ‘excuse’

The night’s main event will see Benn look to try and win a world title against the odds.

‘King Ry’ is the favourite to win the bout, particularly with every passing day.

This is because Benn has shown to be struggling to boil down to the weight, and is looking extremely lean in a bid to make the 147lbs limit.

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For ‘The Destroyer’ he has already declared it will be his final outing at the weight class before moving up to 154lbs or 160lbs.

And Garcia expects his bitter rival to use the struggles as an excuse for defeat if he scores the statement KO win he is planning.

He explained: “One million percent he will use the weight as an excuse. He already set it up.

“You already heard him say ‘this is my last fight at 147’. Who wants to become a champion and then leave the division?

“Bro was making excuses. He’s not going to become a champion but who would do that?

“It makes no sense unless you’re setting up an excuses.

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“He’s not going through what I went through. I had to not gain 10 lbs. He don’t have a rehydration clause.

“That’s where it hurts you. It’s not being able to gain the weight back the right way is tough part.

“So I don’t really have any sympathy for him. I had to do it, everybody has to do it, UFC fighters have to do it, everybody got to do it. He’s just making excuses.”