Jai Opetaia to Fight for First-Ever Zuffa Boxing Title in March

Jai Opetaia's journey toward undisputed status will begin with the Zuffa Boxing title on March 8.

One month after signing with Dana White's promotion, Jai Opetaia will compete for its inaugural cruiserweight title in the Zuffa Boxing 04 main event. The company announced on Tuesday that Opetaia will face Brandon Glanton for the 200-pound title.

As with the first three Zuffa Boxing events, Opetaia and Glanton will headline a Meta APEX fight card streaming on Paramount+. Zuffa Boxing 04 will be sponsored by Turki Alalshikh's Riyadh Season.

A CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED👑

🇦🇺 @JaiOpetaia1 and 🇺🇸 Brandon Glanton will fight for the inaugural Zuffa Boxing World Cruiserweight Championship on MAR 8#ZuffaBoxing04 | #RiyadhSeason | @RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/DE1TNPrAKj
— Zuffa_Boxing (@Zuffa_Boxing) February 10, 2026

Opetaia's Zuffa Boxing debut will occur three months after his last fight, which marked his seventh defense of The Ring cruiserweight title and fourth defense of the IBF belt. He stopped Huseyin Cinkara with a brutal eighth-round knockout to improve to 29-0.

Glanton, 21-3, is ranked by the WBC, WBO, IBF and The Ring. Zuffa Boxing only acknowledgesThe Ring rankings which have him slotted as its No. 10-ranked cruiserweight contender.

Glanton is coming off a sixth-round stoppage victory over Marcus Browne in October 2025. The win was his first since dropping a unanimous decision to former champion Chris Billam-Smith six months prior.

Jai Opetaia's title status is still unclear amid Zuffa Boxing 04 main event

Opetaia signed with Zuffa Boxing as the IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion. While The Ring has equity in the upstart promotion, there is no word on what will happen with Opetaia's IBF belt. The announcement suggested that it would not be on the line against Glanton.

The fight announcement does not acknowledge Opetaia as an IBF or The Ring champion. The inaugural Zuffa Boxing world cruiserweight championship is the only title mentioned in the initial release.

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In announcing its initial plan to take over the sport, Zuffa Boxing claimed it would not recognize any other sanctioning body. However, after signing Opetaia, who has openly acknowledged his goal to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion, Dana White said he would help the Aussie achieve that objective.

White's confession suggested he would help Opetaia secure matchups against fellow cruiserweight champions Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez and Noel Mikaelian. Instead, Zuffa Boxing continues to remain within its own realm and has yet to co-promote with another promoter.

Opetaia can still fight either Ramirez or Mikaelian later in 2026, but if Zuffa Boxing ignores the IBF belt in his fight with Glandon, the organization has the option to strip one of its most prominent champions. Opetaia potentially losing that title would seemingly remove him from undisputed contention and keep him firmly within the Zuffa Boxing barriers.

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