David Benavidez calls on Dana White to make Jai Opetaia fight

David Benavidez called on Dana White and Zuffa Boxing to work with his promoters to arrange a fight with Jai Opetaia, stating it would be the biggest bout cruiserweight can offer.

After his sixth-round knockout of Gilberto Ramirez captured WBA and WBO titles Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, Benavidez told reporters he wants confirmation that Zuffa is willing to collaborate with his handlers at PBC and DAZN. "I think Dana White has showed that he doesn't want to do fights with PBC, DAZN," Benavidez said during his post-fight press conference, per The Ring Magazine. "I don't want to sound like I'm disrespecting [White], but that's just what it looks like from the outside. If we could come to an agreement and make a big fight, let's do it."

Why the Opetaia matchup became complicated

Opetaia made his Zuffa debut in March with a decision win over Brandon Glanton in Las Vegas but was stripped of his IBF belt after the sanctioning body's dispute with the promotion. Benavidez said he became less interested in Opetaia once the IBF title left the equation because he wants undisputed status at 200 pounds. The Phoenix native appeared more open to the bout after dominating Ramirez with two knockdowns, though he made clear he would not travel to fight for Zuffa titles alone.

Benavidez plans to drop back to heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight for his next fight and hopes to face unified champion Dmitry Bivol. Opetaia could defend his Ring and Zuffa belts against the winner of Chris Billam-Smith and Ryan Rozicki on June 6 in Bournemouth. "I think that would be a great fight to make in the future," Benavidez said of Opetaia. "He has to come back over here to make these fights happen, because we can't make no fights in Zuffa."

Source: ringmagazine.com