Over two months elapsed, and Mikaelian hadn’t heard anything back from Benavidez’s team or received a “bona fide offer.” Needing a fight sooner rather than later, the WBC champion instead pivoted to a bout with Jai Opetaia, The Ring champion.

Mikaelian will face Opetaia in a 12-round bout, the co-feature before Ryan Garcia encounters Conor Benn on September 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card will stream on Paramount+ in the United States and on DAZN Pay-Per-View and DAZN Ultimate in the UK and Ireland.

“With the Benavidez fight, I agreed to it immediately, and [more than] 60 days [passed],” Mikaelian told The Ring’s Mike Coppinger. “I never received an agreement. … [My manager Anthony Girges] decided we have to see what’s going on there to make a fight happen. I have to make a living. I have to fight. I have to make a career. I can’t wait forever. I’m already getting gray hair. It’s either now or never.”

The 35-year-old Mikaelian (28-3, 12 KOs), The Ring’s No. 5-ranked cruiserweight contender, said he is still willing to face Benavidez, who holds the WBA and WBO belts. Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs), of Phoenix, Arizona, is The Ring’s No. 1 contender in the light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions and No. 5 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list.

Mikaelian, of Yerevan, Armenia, was ordered to face Benavidez by the WBC, though he contends that he is due a voluntary defense, which he would make against Australia’s Opetaia (30-0, 23 KOs).

It is rare for a champion to be ordered by a sanctioning body to face the owner of another governing organization’s belt. It occurred in part because Benavidez’s handlers petitioned the WBC on his behalf.

Mikaelian could be stripped by the WBC for moving forward with this bout against Opetaia.

Benavidez, 29, also holds the WBC light heavyweight title. He became a unified cruiserweight champion with a dominant sixth-round stoppage of Gilberto Ramirez on May 2 at T-Mobile Arena.

“We can still make the Benavidez fight happen after this,” Mikaelian said. “The winner can fight Benavidez afterwards in December or in January. The fight is not off the table, but I can’t wait for Benavidez the entire year to fight him.”

December 12 was the proposed date for the Benavidez-Mikaelian match to take place at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, near Phoenix.

Mikaelian reclaimed his WBC title via a unanimous decision in a rematch with Badou Jack on December 13 in Los Angeles. Jack won their first bout by a majority decision in May 2025.

Opetaia beat Atlanta’s Brandon Glanton in a one-sided unanimous decision to retain The Ring belt March 8 in Las Vegas. After the win, the Sydney native was stripped of his IBF title for a second time after the New Jersey-based sanctioning body cited an issue with Opetaia and Glanton fighting for the Zuffa belt and stated it does not recognize that title.

Opetaia’s team took legal action by suing the IBF on July 14, when his attorney filed a 123-page complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Opetaia, 31, seeks reinstatement as IBF champion and believes the IBF stripped him in retaliation for signing with Zuffa Boxing, an emerging promotional company in which Ring owner Turki Alalshikh has made a significant financial investment.

Opetaia also believes the IBF had no plans of sanctioning his bout against Glanton before he sent a $73,000 sanctioning fee that was promptly returned.

As much as he still wants to box Benavidez, Mikaelian realizes he’ll have his hands full with Opetaia.

“I think Jai is a very great fighter,” Mikaelian said. “He has been IBF world champion. [He] legitimately beat Mairis Briedis in two tough fights. He’s a champion for a reason, as I am, so it’s both champions colliding.

“I can’t underestimate him, and I won’t underestimate him. I have a lot of respect for him. Great fighter, good technique, good in-and-out movement, strong southpaw, young and ambitious. [He’s] very dangerous.”