Jai Opetaia’s fight with Brandon Glanton is still moving forward, but veteran reporter Dan Rafael says the issue that removed the IBF title from the bout centered on how the belt was presented during fight week. Rafael reported that IBF president Daryl Peoples believed the organization’s title was shown as secondary to the Zuffa belt during the final press conference.
That explanation puts the dispute on presentation rather than the matchup itself. Rafael wrote that Peoples objected to the way the belts were positioned at the presser, where the Zuffa belt was posed for cameras while Opetaia held the IBF title instead of lifting it toward the audience in the usual way.
“The IBF pulled sanction and sent supervisor home after presser because IBF president Daryl Peoples felt disrespected by how the belt was positioned as secondary to the Zuffa belt,” Rafael wrote on social media.
Images from fight week reflected the arrangement Rafael described. At the final press conference on Friday, the Zuffa belt was centered for photographs while Opetaia held the red IBF title at his side. Saturday’s weigh-in produced a similar visual. The Zuffa belt was lifted above the fighters during the faceoff while Opetaia still had the IBF championship draped across his chest. That sequence appears to have irritated the sanctioning body.
Rafael also reported another unusual detail connected to the fight. Even after the IBF withdrew sanctioning, Opetaia and Glanton were still expected to follow the IBF’s fight-morning weight rule. Rafael said neither fighter can weigh more than ten pounds above the cruiserweight limit of 200.
Rafael later noted that the IBF belt had still appeared in promotion for the event. Opetaia held the title at media events and discussed it publicly, and Zuffa broadcast graphics included the championship. Rafael’s account indicates the dispute centered on how the belt appeared relative to the Zuffa title during the press events.
Opetaia entered fight week as the IBF cruiserweight champion after regaining the belt in his rematch win over Mairis Briedis in 2024. The Australian is still carrying the physical belt during promotion for the Glanton fight. Once he enters the ring for an unsanctioned bout, the IBF championship will no longer move forward with him.
The fight remains on the schedule, and Rafael’s reporting indicates the split grew out of belt politics and presentation during the public events. The episode shows how tightly sanctioning bodies guard the status of their championships when new promoters introduce rival titles.
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Last Updated on 2026/03/07 at 3:51 PM
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