{"id":418592,"date":"2026-01-17T07:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T07:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/418592\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T07:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T07:16:12","slug":"australian-cruiserweight-champion-jai-opetaia-signs-with-zuffa-boxing-dana-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/418592\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia signs with Zuffa Boxing, Dana White"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Australian cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia has signed a long-term deal with Dana White\u2019s Zuffa Boxing, it was revealed on Saturday. <\/p>\n<p>The two-time IBF cruiserweight title-holder is a significant addition to the upstart promotion headed by UFC boss White. <\/p>\n<p>BOXING LATEST: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/boxing\/boxing-2026-nikita-tszyu-vs-michael-zerafa-press-conference-after-controversial-stoppage-will-there-be-a-rematch-video\/news-story\/e8118e6e749f65970ca16b70ec8cfe98\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">\u2018F***, don\u2019t do this man\u2019: Nikita\u2019s stunning reveal as Tszyu delivers rematch verdict on \u2018b****\u2019 Zerafa<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768365730_454_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Gold Coast native boasts a 29-0 record with 23 knockouts, regarded as the best cruiserweight there is. <\/p>\n<p>\u201c(I\u2019m) signed with Zuffa Boxing now,\u201d Opetaia said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Zuffa_Boxing\/status\/2012319620641026150?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">social media release<\/a> from Zuffa\u2019s official X account. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m pumped for the future. Exciting times, man. Let\u2019s get these big fights over the line \u2014 unification and undisputed, too. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tszyu v Zerafa fight controversy | 02:20<\/p>\n<p>Opetaia\u2019s last outing was a knockout of Huseyin Cinkara in December \u2014 his fourth-straight KO triumph. <\/p>\n<p>Zuffa Boxing is set to commence on January 24 with Callum Walsh facing Carlos Ocampo. <\/p>\n<p>Tim Tszyu exposes Zerafa cowardly act | 07:36<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/boxing\/he-built-ufc-into-an-18bn-empire-now-dana-whites-bold-plan-to-fix-broken-boxing-begins\/news-story\/d785b29d727ba783ff0ce01c2f0e6783\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Last September<\/a>, White suggested his Zuffa Boxing vision represented something akin to a boxing version of Dana White\u2019s Contender Series \u2014 with winners then progressing to high-profile Riyadh or Ring events. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I\u2019m gonna do is basically like the Contender series,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe best will fight the best. Undefeated guys will fight undefeated guys.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll build stars, put on great fights, and then these guys will graduate and fight with Sheikh Turki \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia has signed a long-term deal with Dana White\u2019s Zuffa Boxing, it was revealed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,689,220622,802,220624,93381,152770,9124,220629,220626,220623,958,2057,220627,220631,2105,2485,220620,2328,53146,11850,220630,677,701,3595,85,5942,1908,220621,220625,220628],"class_list":["post-418592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-cruiserweight","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-version","tag-callum-walsh","tag-carlos-ocampo","tag-chris-hyde","tag-claudio-squeo","tag-cruiserweight-title-bout","tag-cruiserweight-title-holder","tag-dana-white","tag-europe","tag-exhibition-centre","tag-fight-controversyboxing","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-convention","tag-italy","tag-jai-opetaia","tag-michael-zerafa","tag-nikita","tag-oceania","tag-queensland","tag-southern-europe","tag-sports","tag-tim-tszyu","tag-turki","tag-undefeated-guys","tag-upstart-move","tag-upstart-promotion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}