Andreas HaleOct 30, 2025, 07:41 AM
CloseAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.
Badou Jack will put his WBC cruiserweight title on the line in a rematch with Noel Mikaelian on Dec. 13 at the Ace Mission Studios in Los Angeles.
The WBC mandated a rematch after Jack won a close majority decision over Mikaelian on May 3 in Saudi Arabia.
Jack (29-3-3, 17 KOs) won the title in February 2023 with a 12th-round TKO of Junior Makabu. Now 41, Jack will look to again turn back the challenge of Mikaelian (27-3, 12 KOs) who stepped into the initial fight on short notice when Ryan Rozicki was forced out due to injury.
Mikaelian, 35, held the WBC title briefly with his victory over Makabu in November 2023, when Jack was declared “champion in recess” after attempting to move up to bridgerweight to challenge Lukasz Rozanski. That fight never came together, however, and Jack was reinstated as WBC champion.
The Jack-Mikaelian rematch will headline a card that has been dubbed “Championing Mental Health presents CMH 2: Rematch Season,” which will be dedicated to mental health awareness.