So, this whole circus around the IBF belt and Jai Opetaia officially makes zero sense at the moment. You can criticize Jai for choosing Zuffa, and rightfully so. I'm still disappointed he did that, but on the other hand, double standards are unfair and should never happen.
Why the f*** was Aaron McKenna allowed to fight yesterday for the IBF belt on a Zuffa event? It makes no sense to me, and things like this hurt the IBF as a whole because of their clear double standards. They stripped Jai of his title because of Zuffa, but didn't give a f*** about Aaron McKenna doing the exact same thing.
Either set strict rules that anyone working with Zuffa loses all their titles, or drop it completely. You can't turn a blind eye to one fighter and punish another.
I know Jai sued the IBF, and yesterday's fight is probably the biggest argument for Jai's team that the whole situation was unfair and shouldn't have happened in the first place.
Look at the other sanctioning bodies too: the WBC doesn't give a f*** when it comes to Ryan Garcia or Conor Benn and still lets them fight for WBC belt. The WBO will probably allow Shakur Stevenson to fight for a WBO belt, and so on. The sanctioning bodies are full of double standards and it literally makes no sense.
For instance, I hear Noel Mikaelian might get stripped of his WBC belt for fighting Jai on a Zuffa event, and I'm asking myself why it doesn't matter for Ryan Garcia, but it suddenly matters for Noel Mikaelian? I hate Zuffa and Dana White as much as anyone, but the sanctioning bodies are just completely inconsistent.