Neeraj Goyat, India's top boxer, to fight ex-UFC champ Anthony Pettis

          • Brett OkamotoOct 14, 2026, 10:30 AM ET
            Close
              Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
            Follow on X

          Neeraj Goyat, India's top professional boxer, will face former UFC champion Anthony Pettis in the ring on Jan. 23 in his home country.

          The event is promoted by India's IPBL Boxing and sanctioned by the Indian Boxing Council. A host city is expected to be announced next month, with Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Chennai under consideration.

          Goyat (21-4, 9 KOs) is a former WBC Asia champion and the first Indian boxer to be ranked by the World Boxing Council.

          In 2024, he became the first international fighter to join Most Valuable Promotions, the U.S.-based promotion founded by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian. Goyat defeated Brazil's Whindersson Nunes on the undercard of Paul's fight against Mike Tyson in Arlington, Texas. This will mark his first bout in India since 2022.

          "I have fought in China, in Thailand, in America and in the U.K., and every time I was the Indian on somebody else's card," Goyat said in a release. "This time the card is ours. I want to thank MVP and Nakisa Bidarian for believing in me and helping bring this moment to India. Anthony is a real champion and I respect everything he has done, but I have waited my whole career to fight a name like this in front of my own people. I am not giving that night away."

          Pettis, 39, hasn't fought in MMA since 2022. A former 155-pound UFC champion, he has boxed professionally twice since walking away from MMA, including an eight-round majority decision victory over Roy Jones Jr. in April 2023. Pettis is a co-promoter of the Indian Fight League and Indian Pro Boxing League. His younger brother, former Bellator MMA bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis, lost a unanimous decision to India's Sabari Jaishankar in March 2025 in Hyderabad.

          "I have seen what Indian fighters can do, and Neeraj is the best of them," Pettis said in a statement. "That is who I want. I have thought a lot about Sergio's loss. This one is for him, and I am coming to win."

          MVP, which referred to Goyat as "the most viral fighter in the world" when it signed him in 2024, credited the January event as historic in a release.

          "We signed Neeraj because we believed he had the potential to become a global boxing star and help put Indian boxing on the world stage," the MVP co-founders said in a joint statement. 'Now he has the opportunity to headline a historic event in his home country against one of the biggest names in combat sports."