GOLD COAST, Australia – The IBF cruiserweight title fight between Jai Opetaia and his mandatory challenger Huseyin Cinkara will be shown outside of Australia on UFC Fight Pass, potentially ending the champion’s association with DAZN.
Opetaia, 30 years old and of Australia, on Saturday makes the third defence of his title of 2025 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre and, for the first time, on the pay-per-view platform of the influential Australian broadcaster Stan.
His fights had been on DAZN, partly as a consequence of his being co-promoted by Matchroom, but his long-term promoters Tasman Fighters have followed securing their agreement with Stan by agreeing terms for another with UFC Fight Pass, ensuring that his date with Germany’s 40-year-old Cinkara can be watched beyond his home country.
“I only signed the contract about two hours ago,” Tasman’s Mick Francis told BoxingScene. “We’ll officially announce it at the presser [on Thursday].
“We’re doing some pretty hard work down here. I’ve worked my arse off. Yeah, we sell tickets and whatever we do, but [funding Tasman has] come out of my bank account. It’s not like I’ve got Saudi [Arabia] supporting me, or a multimillionaire father or things like that. It’s been real money out of my real pocket.”
That Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, the WBA and WBO champion widely recognised as, behind Opetaia, the world’s second finest cruiserweight fights on DAZN will potentially complicate the hopes Francis and Opetaia have of agreeing terms to fight him in 2026. Ramirez, regardless, is expected to prioritise fighting David Benavidez instead.
DAZN on Saturday are broadcasting Matchroom’s promotion from Monte Carlo, headlined by the all-British EBU junior-featherweight title fight between Shabaz Masoud and Peter McGrail.
