(Zuffa Boxing)
Zuffa Boxing, the upstart promotion that made its official launch in January, has announced the eight divisions in which its fighters will compete.
Boxing’s current major sanctioning bodies – the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO – and their world titleholders across 17 weight classes won’t have a place in Zuffa Boxing, which will award a belt in just eight recognized divisions. They are as follows:
Heavyweight: 200-plus lbs
Cruiserweight: 200lbs
Light heavyweight: 175lbs
Middleweight: 160lbs
Welterweight: 147lbs
Lightweight: 135lbs
Featherweight: 126lbs
Bantamweight: 118lbs
Zuffa’s decision streamlines its title picture, which will force some of its fighters to make tough decisions about which class they should compete in – or possibly even whether Zuffa Boxing makes sense for them. In particular, the lowest-weight fighters – those who have traditionally competed at 105, 108, 112 and 115lbs – will have to decide how much or little to slide up the scale, and whether they can compete against natural bantamweights.
Absent its own ratings system (for now), Zuffa Boxing will use Ring Magazine rankings to determine matchups and challengers within its eight divisions. The promotion will crown its first titleholder on March 8 at its “Zuffa Boxing 04” card when cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Brandon Glanton meet at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.
Opetaia, 29-0 (23 KOs), is not only the current IBF cruiserweight titleholder but also the widely recognized lineal champion of the division. It’s uncertain how the crossover with Zuffa will ultimately affect lineal designations, which had been somewhat nebulous and occasionally disputed even before the further Zuffa-driven bifurcation of the sport.
Dana White – the CEO and president of UFC and now also the head of Zuffa Boxing – has always spoken plainly about boxing’s problems. His plans for Zuffa Boxing appear to closely mirror the model that he and others created in building the premier mixed martial arts promotion and competitive platform.
“I talked a lot of smack about the things that I didn’t like about boxing,” White said at a press conference ahead of last month’s “Zuffa Boxing 01,” his promotion’s maiden card. “But I also said, if you look at the UFC – and not just the success of it, but the sustainability of it – I took everything that I loved about boxing and everything that I hated about boxing and how we built the UFC. So if it works…
2026-02-13 11:00:00
