When is Jai Opetaia vs Huseyin Cinkara?
Jai Opetaia vs Huseyin Cinkara is on Saturday, December 6. The broadcast will begin at 2:30 a.m. ET (7:30 a.m. GMT).
Jai Opetaia vs Huseyin Cinkara will stream on UFC Fight Pass.
Where is Jai Opetaia vs Huseyin Cinkara?
The fight is taking place at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.
Who is Jai Opetaia?
Opetaia, 28-0 (22 KOs), is making the seventh defense of his lineal cruiserweight and Ring Magazine championships, as well as the fifth defense of his IBF belt (split between two reigns). He has stuck around at 200lbs while hoping for unification matches but often hasn’t been taking on top opposition in the interim. That won’t change with this fight.
A 30-year-old from Gold Coast, Queensland, Opetaia will be headlining for the third straight time at home.
He first won his titles in July 2022, when he defeated Mairis Briedis by unanimous decision. But Opetaia made only one defense of the IBF belt before ditching it, persuaded instead to take a larger payday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against Ellis Zorro in December 2023. He remained the lineal and Ring champion.
He then regained the still-vacant IBF title in May 2024, back again in Riyadh, earning it with another unanimous decision over Briedis in their rematch. He fought in Saudi Arabia one more time in October 2024, stopping Jack Massey in six rounds.
Opetaia was originally supposed to defend this past January against Cinkara, his unheralded mandatory challenger. Cinkara had to pull out because of an ankle injury. Instead, Opetaia knocked out the 10-0 David Nyika in the fourth round. Opetaia most recently fought in June, taking out the 17-0 Claudio Squeo in the fifth round.
If Opetaia at last gets this mandatory defense out of the way, he will need to decide whether to move up to heavyweight or wait and see if he can get one of the other cruiserweight titleholders in the ring.
Badou Jack is defending his WBC belt in a rematch with Noel Mikaelyan later in the day on December 13. Unified WBA/WBO titleholder Gilberto Ramirez is set to face Robin Sirwan Safar in mid-January and, if successful, will then meet David Benavidez, who is moving up from 175lbs for the challenge, in a May 2026 main event.
Who is Huseyin Cinkara?
Huseyin Cinkara, 23-0 (19 KOs), is a 40-year-old from Germany who has been the mandatory challenger for Opetaia’s IBF belt since April 2024.
As for what he did to merit the title shot? Well, the IBF decided for some reason that a fight between Cinkara and Armend Xhoxhaj would be an elimination bout.
Xhoxhaj was 18-3 going into the match and had previously been stopped by Chris Billam-Smith in five rounds in 2022; by Mateusz Masternak in four rounds in 2021; and by the 3-0 Dzemal Bosnjak in three rounds in 2019. Xhoxhaj’s sole victory of note was just before the Billam-Smith bout, when he edged the 15-0 Roman Fress via split decision.
Cinkara showed the significant gulf in class by disposing of Xhoxhaj in just four minutes. There is nothing else of note on Cinkara’s record. His fight with Opetaia was originally scheduled for this past January, but he had to pull out because of the ankle injury. Instead, Cinkara shook off some rust in April with a first-round TKO of the 12-2 Juan Diaz.
That means Cinkara has had less than seven minutes of ring time in the past two years and is taking a huge step up in level of opposition.
What other fights are on the undercard of Jai Opetaia vs Huseyin Cinkara?
The undercard includes a fight between super middleweights Max McIntyre, 8-0 (7 KOs), and Jed Morris, 8-2 (7 KOs); a junior middleweight bout featuring Jake Wyllie, 18-2 (16 KOs), against Paul Fleming, 28-1-1 (18 KOs); a clash of junior welterweight prospects Ben Mahoney, 15-0-1 (8 KOs), and Winston Hill, 7-0 (6 KOs); as well as developmental fights for heavyweight Teremoana Jnr, 8-0 (8 KOs), and light heavyweight Austin Aokuso, 9-0 (3 KOs).
The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
