The Zuffa Boxing vs. IBF situation is getting even messier. At the Zuffa 4 boxing event, the promotion crowned Jai Opetaia as its inaugural champion after he defeated Brandon Glanton. The IBF belt was supposed to be on the line at the event, but the boxing sanctioning body got into a dispute with Zuffa and ultimately refused to authorize it. Although the event continued without their stamp, Dana White believes lawsuits could be coming.

The IBF also felt that Zuffa didn’t properly treat its belt during the Zuffa Boxing 4 event. The sanctioning body expressed disappointment that Jai Opetaia, who entered the bout as the IBF cruiserweight champion, didn’t prominently display the belt during the press conference, while Zuffa’s belt took center stage. However, the promotion still didn’t put the belt on the line despite Opetaia reportedly paying the IBF sanctioning fee. Now, Dana White believes the situation could push both sides to court.

“Yeah, I mean, there’s no doubt that he’s the best in the world, and he paid his sanctioning fees,” White said during the Zuffa boxing post-fight press conference. “You know, they flew a guy out here and then said they were disrespected at the press conference. The belt was in front of him the entire time, and he held it in his hands when he did the face-off. The Zuffa belt was in the middle because nobody had it. He had the other two belts, and they were fighting for that one.”

According to reports, the newly crowned Zuffa Boxing champion, Jai Opetaia, actually paid the required $80,000 sanctioning fee and also complied with IBF’s rehydration clause before the Zuffa Boxing 4 event. But the IBF stood their ground and is even planning to strip the Australian boxer of their title.

However, since he paid the sanctioning fees and followed most of the protocols, yet still ended up not defending the title, Dana White believes that could be a legitimate reason to drag the IBF to court. Although the UFC CEO and his team haven’t done it yet, he issued a swift warning to the sanctioning body about possible lawsuits.

“The fact that you’re asking me that means that’s exactly what you guys think, too,” White added at the post-fight presser. “I mean, it’s pretty clear what they are doing and what’s going on, and I see lawsuits coming. That’s what I see.”

Now, as the situation between Zuffa and the IBF is getting increasingly murky, there’s a chance that Jai Opetaia could actually be stripped of his IBF title. But is that really the case?

Jai Opetaia opens up about his future as IBF champion

The Australian boxer won the IBF title after beating Mairis Briedis in front of his home crowd in 2022. However, dark clouds are now looming over his status as the IBF cruiserweight champion, as the sanctioning body might strip him of that title. But have they done it yet? According to Opetaia, he’s still the champion, though he isn’t sure how many more days he’ll remain the champ.

“It’s a bit frustrating, but I’m not going to sit here and badmouth the IBF,” Opetaia told the press during his post-fight press conference. “It’s not my style to badmouth anyone, but I really hope they [change their minds]. I got told after the fight, about five minutes ago, that as of now, I’m actually not stripped. I don’t know if that’s correct, fake news! I honestly don’t know what’s going on; there’s been so much noise going on outside and stuff like that.”

For the unversed, the current Muhammad Ali Act does not allow Zuffa Boxing to create its own belt. As a result, their belt is not an officially sanctioned title. In that case, Opetaia must defend his title under the IBF’s conditions, or the sanctioning body could strip him of the belt for that reason, along with other ongoing issues.

That said, could TKO and Zuffa Boxing eventually come to a truce? Let us know in the comments section below.