BoxRec

Wow. Didn’t see that coming.

Eddie just couldn’t do it for him.

Will he vacate his IBF belt then?

What about his Ring belt.

ZUFFA BOXING SCORES MAJOR SIGNING WITH JAI OPETAIA

Zuffa Boxing has announced it's biggest signing to date, Ring and IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, a rising star in the sport. The announcement was made Friday.

“Pumped for the future,” Opetaia said in a Zuffa Boxing video that was posted on X. “Exciting times. Let’s get these big fights over the line. Unification [and] undisputed soon. Let’s go.”



Opetaia (29-0, 23 KOs) established himself as one of the top cruiserweights when he won the then-vacant IBF title in a unanimous decision victory over multiple-time world champion Mairis Briedis in May 2024.

The dynamic southpaw from Sydney, Australia, has successfully defended his belt five times over two reigns, including a rematch with Briedis.

Opetaia, 30, last fought on Dec. 6, taking down previously unbeaten Huseyin Cinkara by an eighth-round knockout.

Zuffa Boxing’s first show will take place January 23. The main event pits 154-pound contender Callum Walsh (15-0, 11 KOs) against Carlos Ocampo (38-3, 26 KOs) in a 10-round middleweight bout at Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

Also on the card, Misael Rodriguez (15-0, 7 KOs) will face Austin Deanda (17-0, 11 KOs) in a 10-round middleweight matchup. And Julian Rodriguez (24-1, 15 KOs) will fight Cain Sandoval (17-0, 15 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight bout.

The show begins at 9 p.m. ET and will be streamed on Paramount Plus.

Zuffa Boxing was formed by TKO and Sela, an entertainment conglomerate. The company’s leadership includes Dana White, president and CEO of UFC; Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and owner of The Ring; Sela managing director and CEO Dr. Rakan AlHarthy, and WWE president Nick Khan, who is a TKO board member as well.

Oh no... so much for his aspirations of becoming undisputed..
The silver lining is, he can't fight any bigger 'cans' than he already has

I'm sure that will help him get the fight with Zurdo who's with Goldenboy... There's more cans to crush at Cruiserweight until they make him Zuffa heavyweight champion of the world for beating Efe Ajagba.

I don’t know enough about these promoters. Does this mean fewer cupcakes and better fights, or the opposite?

Sendo Takeshi wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 03:30 Oh no... so much for his aspirations of becoming undisputed..
The silver lining is, he can't fight any bigger 'cans' than he already has

Typical Pommy. Could not find your own arse with both hands.

Brute wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 04:27

Sendo Takeshi wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 03:30 Oh no... so much for his aspirations of becoming undisputed..
The silver lining is, he can't fight any bigger 'cans' than he already has

Typical Pommy. Could not find your own arse with both hands.

Dry your eyes, champ. Didn't mean to make you cry over a bloke who doesn't know you exist.

The Ring is not a sanctioning body, Dana probably doesn't have a problem with them.
That IBF belt will probably be vacant soon though.

Perseus wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 09:23 The Ring is not a sanctioning body, Dana probably doesn't have a problem with them.
That IBF belt will probably be vacant soon though.

Yh ring don’t take fees do they. They just award the best in each division

Sounds to me like Jai Opetaia just signed away any chance of his career ever having much meaning. I hope the contract is short at least, because when it's over he'll be no bigger a Boxing star than he is already. If not a lesser one.

Not the move I wanted to see from opetaia personally

Wonder what Eddie gotta say about it all.

Oiky wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 16:16 Not the move I wanted to see from opetaia personally

Story of his career. Apparently that's gonna stay the story of his career.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 17:49

Oiky wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 16:16 Not the move I wanted to see from opetaia personally

Story of his career. Apparently that's gonna stay the story of his career.

100% I cant imagine this would be the best move for him money wise either

I don't think this is anything new to any of the promoters
They probably knew this was going down a couple of years ago

Surprising.
Feels like Jai is as bad outside the ring as he is good in it.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 17:47 Wonder what Eddie gotta say about it all.

I don't think Hearn was particularly interested in Jai, and did a sh*t job with him accordingly.

Zurdo Ramirez is a legitimate earner on his own and is fighting good fighters for good money. If Hearn really wanted Jai to fight him he would have to find the money to pay him. All he ever said was that he was asking for too much, but how much do you think he'll get for fighting Benevidez? You have to match that and then some.

Hearn isn't about real boxing anymore: he's all about Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul, and Eubank jnr vs Conor Benn. Gaudy dumb 'events' for retards that rake in millions and millions of easy money.

The easy money on the side he was getting from Jai was putting him in with nobodies who are just happy to be paid something at all and then flogging it on PPV to Australians, who will just keep paying and buying into the lie that everybody is terrified of Opetaia.

Cyclops wrote: ↑18 Jan 2026, 08:46

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 17:47 Wonder what Eddie gotta say about it all.

I don't think Hearn was particularly interested in Jai, and did a sh*t job with him accordingly.

Zurdo Ramirez is a legitimate earner on his own and is fighting good fighters for good money. If Hearn really wanted Jai to fight him he would have to find the money to pay him. All he ever said was that he was asking for too much, but how much do you think he'll get for fighting Benevidez? You have to match that and then some.

Hearn isn't about real boxing anymore: he's all about Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul, and Eubank jnr vs Conor Benn. Gaudy dumb 'events' for retards that rake in millions and millions of easy money.

The easy money on the side he was getting from Jai was putting him in with nobodies who are just happy to be paid something at all and then flogging it on PPV to Australians, who will just keep paying and buying into the lie that everybody is terrified of Opetaia.

A Boxing promoter is always about whatever sells. If Jai Opetaia was a big seller he'd have been interested in him. Cruiserweights are never really big sellers.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 11:55 Sounds to me like Jai Opetaia just signed away any chance of his career ever having much meaning. I hope the contract is short at least, because when it's over he'll be no bigger a Boxing star than he is already. If not a lesser one.

You may be right but give him credit for taking that risk.
IF Dana's plan works......

Jai will be a huge star..........which absolutely was not happening in boxing.

Perseus wrote: ↑18 Jan 2026, 20:47

gilgamesh wrote: ↑17 Jan 2026, 11:55 Sounds to me like Jai Opetaia just signed away any chance of his career ever having much meaning. I hope the contract is short at least, because when it's over he'll be no bigger a Boxing star than he is already. If not a lesser one.

You may be right but give him credit for taking that risk.
IF Dana's plan works......

Jai will be a huge star..........which absolutely was not happening in boxing.

It's not gonna happen in Boxing from the looks of it.

This sounds like a disaster. Jai was making good cash, even with mediocre opponents. I really felt he was a solid shot at unifying the wbc… didn’t think he would get the undisputed, but unify then move to heavyweight felt good.

I have a feeling his career is about to implode (unless Dana actualy UFC’s boxing)

Mick Francis insists "Zuffa will allow Jai Opetaia to unify"

With the announcement that cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia has signed with Zuffa Boxing, opinion was split about the hard-hitting Aussie’s ambitions.

But Opetaia’s manager Mick Francis has confirmed that unifications remain a priority for the lineal and IBF champion, even though Zuffa Boxing boss Dana White said he had no intention of entertaining the sanctioning bodies.

“One of the concerns was they didn’t recognize the sanctioning bodies,” Francis told Boxing King Media. “However, probably to sweeten the deal and get Jai across the line is that they will late Jai fight for the titles and unify the division, which is exactly what he wants to do.”

Francis said Opetaia did not have any other promotional offers and that he had signed to be the face of the upstart company.

“His personal brand will blow up and go through the roof and that’s something we’ve always wanted to do and he’ll get the opportunity to unify,” Francis added. “Jai wants to unify the titles. He wants someone to believe in him and to support him and someone behind him.

“Yeah, Jai has fought on Riyadh Season and that’s been a massive shot in the arm to a lot of fighters and promoters globally and it’s been a really good thing. I feel Riyadh Season is slowing down a little bit. Last year, Jai fought three times in Australia. Putting on major title fights in Australia is hard because we just don’t have that population and it’s hard financially.”

Opetaia’s last appearance on a Riyadh Season bill was against Jack Massey in late 2024. Francis said they had two fights bookmarked this year, one that would be announced soon and a big fight later in the year “against a light heavyweight who wants to come up. He just wants to fight the best, he wants to go up against whoever’s got the belts.”

However, over at Boxing Social, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman was not so positive about Zuffa’s entry into the marketplace.

“Well, it’s very unfortunate that Dana White and all his team have taken this route, to try to come in and try to bully and be so aggressive,” said Sulaiman. “There’s no need for aggressiveness. They can do their boxing league and they can do whatever they do. I wish them success. They can do good for boxers. But the way they are presenting it is absolutely to the contrary of the benefit of the boxing general state.

“As an example, you see for the first event Callum Walsh, Callum has been the WBC Continental Americas for a couple of years. “Ever since he conquered that title, that championship, he has been so proud displaying his belt on his social media with his friends. I have met with him many times and his dream is to be the WBC world champion, just as Dalton Smith did so incredibly, just as Conor Benn said he only wants the WBC… it is very unfortunate. As I say, there is no need for such negativity in our sport, but that’s their decision.

“That’s the path they want to take and the history behind the WBC, the WBO, the IBF, the WBA, is so rich. This is the way boxing is all about. It’s like American football and the NFL is the major league. There have been so many attempts of minor leagues coming in and they say they’re going to take over, the XFL and I don’t know how many others. Those are minor, secondary leagues as they are going to be, TKO and Zuffa. They’re minor league. I wish them well. I hope they give work to boxers. But the way they have presented it, it’s completely against the benefit of the boxer.”

Jai Opetaia will headline a Zuffa Boxing show on March 8 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. He’ll defend his lineal, RING and IBF cruiserweight titles against an opponent to be determined.

This will be Opetaia’s U.S. debut and his first fight on a Zuffa card after signing with the company.

His Zuffa deal reportedly lets him fight both on Zuffa shows and for Riyadh Season cards, which he says helps his goal of becoming the undisputed cruiserweight champion.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑24 Jan 2026, 08:33 Jai Opetaia will headline a Zuffa Boxing show on March 8 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. He’ll defend his lineal, RING and IBF cruiserweight titles against an opponent to be determined.

This will be Opetaia’s U.S. debut and his first fight on a Zuffa card after signing with the company.

His Zuffa deal reportedly lets him fight both on Zuffa shows and for Riyadh Season cards, which he says helps his goal of becoming the undisputed cruiserweight champion.

I'm predicting Leonardo Mosquea at best. Tristan Kalkreuth or Brandon Glanton are possibilities if Dana wants to try to appeal to American fans.