Dana White Kills Strickland's Opetaia Callout, Tips Wilder for Boxing Champion's Next Fight
UFC boss Dana White dismissed Sean Strickland's bid to box Jai Opetaia during Friday's Power Slap event, saying MMA-to-boxing crossovers rarely end well — and instead floated Deontay Wilder as the cruiserweight champion's next opponent, possibly on the Fury vs Joshua undercard.
Dana White has poured cold water on Sean Strickland's ambitions to trade the octagon for the boxing ring against Jai Opetaia.
Speaking alongside Nina Drama on a Kick stream during Friday night's Power Slap event, the UFC president was asked about Strickland's callout of the Australian cruiserweight king. White waved it off, insisting that crossing over from MMA to boxing almost never works out — noting that the 2017 Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather spectacle, which he helped promote, remains the exception rather than the rule.
But White did have a name in mind for Opetaia's future: Deontay Wilder. The former WBC heavyweight champion's manager had already confirmed interest in the matchup earlier in the day, and White revealed there is a strong chance Opetaia meets Wilder next. He even suggested the bout could land on the undercard of the long-awaited Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua showdown in December, a card already generating huge anticipation after tickets went on sale.
For Strickland, the message is clear: his boxing ambitions will have to wait. For Opetaia, a clash with Wilder would be a blockbuster statement of intent from Zuffa Boxing's first cruiserweight champion — and another sign that the promotion's boxing arm is hunting the biggest names in the sport.