{"id":526566,"date":"2026-03-08T10:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T10:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/526566\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T10:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T10:34:14","slug":"champion-boxer-jai-opetaia-ready-to-make-statement-in-dana-whites-zuffa-boxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/526566\/","title":{"rendered":"Champion Boxer Jai Opetaia Ready To Make Statement In Dana White\u2019s Zuffa Boxing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                          KO Artist Jai Opetaia<br \/>\n                          Ready To Do Damage<br \/>\n                          &#8230; In New Dana White Boxing League<\/p>\n<p>\n                                                                        Published<br \/>\n                              March 8, 2026<br \/>\n                            12:10 AM PST\n                                                                            <\/p>\n<p>            Play video content<\/p>\n<p>                    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/22451d0e9851423696fd96b1f08729a8_md.png\" alt=\"022326_Jai-Opetaia_kal\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" class=\"img-fluid\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                    TMZSports.com<\/p>\n<p>One of boxing\u2019s most dangerous cruiserweights is stepping into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/dana-white\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dana White<\/a>\u2019s new promotion &#8212; and Jai Opetaia plans to make a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The undefeated Australian star will make his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paramountplus.com\/shows\/zuffa-boxing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Zuffa Boxing<\/a> debut at The Apex in Las Vegas on Sunday against Brandon Glanton, with the inaugural cruiserweight title on the line.<\/p>\n<p>Opetaia (29-0, 23 KOs) tells <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/sports\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TMZ Sports<\/a> he&#8217;s looking to reaffirm his status as the best fighter in the 200-pound division.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_png_20260306_26922b20c7ba47adbf0cd67d5bdfdd18\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:feaa4318-3409-473a-83de-c17cbd7d864e\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/26922b20c7ba47adbf0cd67d5bdfdd18_md.png\" alt=\"Jai Opetaia sub getty 1\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a lot of noise when I signed,\u201d Opetaia said. \u201cBut to be the first to fight for a ZUFFA belt, I&#8217;m proud to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the attention surrounding White\u2019s new venture into boxing, Opetaia says the grind behind the scenes hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"continued\" class=\"continued-anchor\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;ve signed a new contract, but we still do the same work,\u201d he said. \u201cWe&#8217;re in the trenches every day &#8212; training hard, sparring, getting punched in the head, punching people in the head. Blood, sweat and tears.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_png_20260306_b6f4d8d2622b4edea9b56254408a9199\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:feaa4318-3409-473a-83de-c17cbd7d864e\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/b6f4d8d2622b4edea9b56254408a9199_md.png\" alt=\"Jai Opetaia sub getty 2\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Preparing for the fight has meant major sacrifices. The champ says he\u2019s spent nearly two months away from home during camp &#8230; and there&#8217;s a balancing act that comes with being a modern fighter &#8212; juggling brutal training with constant media obligations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only do I have to train my ass off and be the best fighter in the world, I\u2019ve got to sing and dance and do interviews and try to be sellable,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a weird balance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once the bell rings, though, none of that matters. He knows Glanton (21-3, 18 KOs) will be a serious test.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_png_20260306_57e33ef8af7f4a3880a595e9db05c62e\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:feaa4318-3409-473a-83de-c17cbd7d864e\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/57e33ef8af7f4a3880a595e9db05c62e_md.png\" alt=\"Jai Opetaia sub getty 3\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s strong, he\u2019s fit, he\u2019s durable, and he just keeps coming forward,\u201d Opetaia said. \u201cMinimal mistakes will win this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And Opetaia made it clear he understands the risks that come with the sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m ready to die,\u201d he said. \u201cI live and die by the sword. This is my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Check out the interview!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KO Artist Jai Opetaia Ready To Do Damage &#8230; In New Dana White Boxing League Published March 8,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,44,85,635,26898],"class_list":["post-526566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-tmz-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526566","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=526566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}