Jorge
Masvidal’s upcoming boxing event will feature some of MMA’s
biggest names.
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Masvidal announced Monday on “The MMA Hour” that Gamebred Boxing 4 will be headlined by a
showdown between Anthony
Pettis and Roy Jones Jr. at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on
April 1. Pettis vs. Jones Jr. will be contested over eight
rounds.
“I’ve always been a fan of Roy Jones,” Masvidal said. “Always
wanted to work with Roy Jones in some capacity. He’s going to be
fighting someone that inspired me in my career numerous times. WEC
champion, UFC champion, I think both his wins for the UFC title
were finishes. This guy has knockouts and finishes at 145, 155,
170, it’s crazy what this guy has done in his career in MMA. Great
striker. He agreed to fight the walking, living legend, the
pound-for-pound king, one of the best fighters, athletes, I’ve ever
seen in combat sports, period, versus Anthony
Pettis.”
Pettis will be making his professional boxing debut. The former UFC
and WEC lightweight champion is coming off a 1-4 stint in
Professional Fighters League, where he was eliminated by Steven Ray in
the 2022 playoffs this past August.
The 54-year-old Jones Jr. is a former four-division world champion
in boxing with a career record of 66-9. The Pensacola, Fla., native
was last seen battling Mike Tyson to a draw in an exhibition bout
in November 2020.
Gamebred Boxing 4 will include plenty of star power throughout the
card. Jose
Aldo and Jeremy
Stephens will lock horns in the boxing ring after Aldo won
their MMA clash via first-round TKO in July 2018. Other pairings
for the event are as follows: Vitor
Belfort vs. Ronaldo
Souza, Pearl
Gonzalez vs. Gina Mazany,
Paul
Daley vs. Anthony
Taylor, Dillon
Cleckler vs. Josh Burns
and Devin Cushing vs. Damian Marciano.
According to Masvidal, every fight on the card will be classified
as a professional bout, and every matchup other than the main event
will be contested over six rounds. Gambred Boxing 4 will be
available via pay-per-view. The card will occur one week before
Masvidal returns from a one-year hiatus to face Gilbert
Burns at UFC 287 on April 8 in Miami.