LAS VEGAS – Jai Opetaia and Noel Mikaelian carry a lot of baggage into the ring this weekend.
There's been a lot of drama surrounding the cruiserweight title fight, which serves as the co-main event bout for Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn this Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena (Paramount+).
First, the WBC threatened to strip Mikaelian of his cruiserweight if he fought Opetaia instead of not completing his mandatory defense against David Benavidez. That could still be made official the moment Mikaelian steps in the ring this Saturday. More recently, longtime promoter Don King filed a cease-and-desist, claiming that he had exclusive promoting rights on Mikaelian, thus making Zuffa Boxing bout a breach of contract.
UFC CEO Dana White, who runs and founded
Zuffa Boxing, assured on Tuesday that the fight will go on, claiming everything contractually speaking was in order.
Dana White reacts to the cease-and-desist letter sent in by Don King regarding the Jai Opetaia vs Noel Mikaelian fight. #GarciaBenn pic.twitter.com/DmXvhh2hxK
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) September 9, 2026
For Mikaelian, this saga is no surprise.
"I didn't know when it was going to come, but we were expecting it," Mikaelian said at Wednesday media day. "At the end I have to deal with the situation, and it is what it is at this point."
Although Mikaelian intends to carry on despite WBC and King's warnings, it has been a point of stress for the Armenian.
"It's just noise," Mikaelian said. "I try to be focused on my fight on Saturday, and everybody has to do what they have to do. It's not in my power what Don King does. I have my contract, and if he tries to block this fight, it's on him. It's not in my power. I know the legal part of my contract, and we did everything right, and we acted in good faith, and I'm ready to go for Saturday. It's all just noise that tries to distract me."
The same can be said for Opetaia, who defends his Zuffa Boxing and Ring Magazine titles.
"Same sh*t man, you know how it is," Opetaia said. "F*ck, every time I do interviews about the fight, I'm getting constantly asked about sanctioning bodies and court cases and stuff, but we have a job to do. We're here to win a fight, and we haven't lost track of what we're here to do. That's the only thing I'm thinking of."
Opetaia isn't sure how all of this drama will end. All he knows is that he's got 12 rounds of fighting to do on Saturday, and then he will worry about the technicalities of it all.
"I got no clue, man," Opetaia said. "It is my job to win the fight whether these sanctioning bodies jump on board or not. What a circus. What an absolute circus."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: 'Absolute circus': Jai Opetaia, Noel Mikaelian react to Don King's attempt to cancel fight
