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Add FightsATW on GoogleFresh off a week when Zuffa Boxing left the nest, otherwise known as the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, NV, to host a cruiserweight show in the U.K., they’ve been busy announcing fight cards, taking them into the summer. While in the U.K., Zuffa announced a middleweight world title fight between Aaron McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) and Etinosa Oliha (22-0, 10 KOs) to take place on August 8 at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
Fans and the media rightly assumed that the fight would be for the vacant IBF middleweight title. Given the tension between the IBF and Zuffa over the last few months, will this fight go without a hitch, or are we heading toward another showdown between Zuffa and the sanctioning organization?
By now, everyone has heard or read about the history between Zuffa and the IBF, but if you haven’t, here is a quick rundown. When Zuffa Boxing was officially announced in the last quarter of 2025, Dana White went on a media tour explaining how Zuffa would change boxing and that the sanctioning organizations would not be part of their plans. That narrative changed when Zuffa signed then-IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, who made a video announcing his new deal and stating that his goal was to become undisputed. At this point, White and Zuffa had to go along with it, as it was likely the key to getting Opetaia to sign with them.
After Opetaia arrived for fight week ahead of his March 8 fight against Brandon Glanton, with the IBF title in hand, issues arose between Zuffa and the IBF. The sanctioning organization felt the fight was being framed as a unification with the Zuffa title on the line, so it decided to withdraw its sanctioning. The IBF stated that, regardless of who won, the IBF cruiserweight strap would become vacant shortly after.
Opetaia, seeing all the back-and-forth online between his promoter and the IBF, still complied with the rules. He completed the second-day weigh-in and brought the title with him on fight night. During the post-fight presser, Opetaia said things had been worked out with the IBF. Then days later, the IBF stood by and stripped Opetaia of the title. That caused a ton of heat between the IBF and Zuffa (Click HERE for the full breakdown from March).
Fast forward to March 31, involving a fight at a different weight class, Jake Donovan reported for Brunch Boxing that the IBF ordered Aaron McKenna and Etinosa Oliha to fight for the vacant middleweight title with their 30-day negotiating period commencing immediately. Donovan added the following:
“Be advised that #2 rated Etinosa Oliha and #4 rated Aaron McKenna are the two highest ranked available contenders in the IBF Middleweight division,” IBF Championships Chairman George Martinez instructed both parties in a ruling obtained by Brunch Boxing. “Both have confirmed in writing their willingness to participate in about for the vacant title. Accordingly, the IBF is ordering a contest between these two contenders to determine the Champion in the division.”
There hadn’t been any updates on the fight other than the purse bid being canceled due to an agreement between both teams. Then on Friday, Zuffa Boxing announced the following:
“The 12-round main event of ZUFFA BOXING 10: MCKENNA VS. OLIHA features a middleweight world championship fight between a pair of unbeaten talents. McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) takes on Italy’s Etinosa Oliha (22-0, 10 KOs) in the first middleweight world title fight on Irish soil in more than three decades.”
Consistent with its business practices, Zuffa made no mention of the IBF title being on the line. Yes, the assumption was that this fight is for the IBF title, given the order and canceled purse bid. But with the recent history between Zuffa and the IBF, are their potential sanctioning issues for this fight?
Curious about where the IBF stands on all of this, I reached out to the sanctioning organization to see whether the fight will proceed without any roadblocks. The public relations rep from the IBF responded to my inquiry with the following:
“We sanctioned that fight (McKenna vs. Oliha) on May 7 for the vacant middleweight title. The promoter of record at the time was TMK promotions. We have not received any notification regarding any changes.”
So there lies the potential issue with all of this. Is TMK (Team McKenna) Promotions still the promoter on record, or is it Zuffa Boxing? Was the IBF kept out of the loop? If this has changed and Zuffa Boxing is now the promoter on record, will that prompt the IBF to remove its sanctioning for that fight? If this is a TMK event, is this a way for Zuffa Boxing to be involved in sanctioning organization title fights without being the direct promoter, as they do with the Ring cards?
We are just under 60 days away from the August 9 fight between McKenna and Oliha. This could all be for nothing, and the fight could happen for the IBF title, or the Zuffa announcement could cause the IBF to move in a different direction. It may be an interesting couple of weeks ahead.
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