With the second card in the books at Zuffa Boxing 02 Sunday night, it’s safe to say it was a far superior product in every way than Zuffa’s inaugural card one week ago.
After the card, Zuffa Boxing CEO Dana White was far more upbeat than after the first show, where he picked his words carefully. Instead, White was enthusiastic, saying the fighters “fought their asses off.” He left a few breadcrumbs behind.
“We have some pretty crazy announcements coming out the next couple of weeks. I am way further in this thing than I anticipated just two weeks in,” said White.
If you missed the card, it’s worth going back to your Paramount Plus account and taking a look. For now, we’ve got the recap.
Valenzuela Rebounds With Win At Lightweight
In the main event, Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela of Renton, Washington (15-3, 9 KOs) got himself back on the high road with a decision win over Diego Torres Nunez of Guadalajara (22-2, 19 KOs). Scores were all a wide 99-91 on all cards. But don’t get it wrong, it was a more challenging fight than those numbers convey.
At age 26, Valenzuela is in the midst of reinventing himself. After losses to Edwin De Los Santos and Chris Colbert, Valenzuela came in as the challenger, scoring an upset victory over Issac “Pitbull” Cruz to become the WBA World Super Lightweight world champion on August 3, 2024, at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on the Crawford vs Madrimov card.
But Valenzuela couldn’t capitalize, taking a drubbing in his next fight from Gary Antuanne Russell. So Valenzuela made the decision to drop back to the lightweight division. It was a good move. After the win, Valenzuela said, “I felt great. You know, I felt a little faster and I felt more like myself.”
Torres came out firing. Valenzuela admitted he got caught up in the fire. “You know, that’s my blood. And I got a little excited, but I have to just relax and remember the game plan,” which was to be smart, not to trade, but to catch Torres coming in.
Before he could settle down, Valenzuela suffered a nasty cut over the left eye from a punch in the fourth round. By that point he couldn’t withdraw without suffering a loss. With nowhere to hide, Valenzuela began to box more, and he performed far better while still staying active.
“These people pay their hard working money, and it’s what we do here at Zuffa Boxing,” said Valenzuela.
“I’m just used to taking hard fights. Life has been hard. I don’t look for an easy route,” thanking Torres for taking the fight. “He only had one loss, and he showed why he’s so tough today.”
Bohachuk and Butaev Go To War
No surprise to the fans who know what Serhii Bohachuk of Ukraine and Radzhab Butaev are made of. The two Eastern Europeans both train in Southern California in Mexican-style gyms with an emphasis on offensive firepower. Thank goodness they also have the toughness of immigrants growing up in hard circumstances, counting on boxing to lift them up.
For ten hard rounds, Bohachuk and Butaev fought on a postage stamp, drilling each other nonstop to the body and head. But the pedigree and experience of Bohachuk plus his better conditioning down the stretch saw him through to a majority decision win. Scores were as close as they get: 96-94 twice for Bohachuk, and 96-94 for Butaev.
Butaev tried to switch up his approach, shifting from orthodox to southpaw against southpaw Bohachuk, boxing for short stretches. It wasn’t all that successful, and it gave Bohachuk better access to his right hook to the body.
Bohachuk said he was ready for him, but admitted he thought he needed two more rounds on the cards. Fortunately, he was wrong.
“I know this guy, his country, his style, like European style,” saying Butaev likes to play around. “That means. when he starts playing with me … it’s not big news to me. I’m ready for every style, for punching, for moving, for play,” said Bohachuk. “For him, it’s a fight. For me, it’s a war.”
A large group of Ukrainian fans were at the Meta APEX to support both Bohachuk and Gvozdyk, members of the 2012 Ukrainian Olympic boxing team that also included Oleksandr Usyk and Denis Berenchyk.
Bohachuk turned to them. “I wanted to say thank you to all my people that are here to support me. Thank you. I really felt your support and Glory be to Ukraine.
Bohachuk is a fan’s fighter to his core, and his goal isn’t only to win, but to please those fans. “I make this my goal: when my fans enjoy my fight, thank you. You’re the best. I want to show my fans the best fight, the best boxing.”
Kalajdzic Scores Stunning Comeback KO Win over Gvozdyk
The opening fight on the main card delivered a dramatic ending. Both “Hot Rod” Radivoje Kalajdzic and “The Nail” Oleksandr Gvozdyk are veteran light heavyweights who have tested themselves against the top talents in the competitive division. At ages 34 and 38, both needed to win and needed to impress to keep their career goals alive.
Gvozdyk was well on his way to a victory, scoring knockdowns of Kalajdzic in the first and fourth round behind a powerful right hand he can still deliver when he was mowing down opponents before he ran into Artur Beterbiev, and retired.
But Kalajdzic wasn’t about to fold his tent. A hammer met the nail in round seven, when Kalajdzic struck lightning and popped Gvozdyk with a right hand he didn’t see. Gvozdyk got to his feet, and all he needed to do was avoid any more damage to limp across the finish line.
Nothing doing. Hot Rod, a Serbian native training in Florida (30-3, 22 KOs) ran right over Gvozdyk of Ukraine, training in Oxnard (22-3, 17 KOs) flattening him with a lights out right hand for an incredible comeback victory.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED 😱 😱 🥊 🥊 #ZuffaBoxing02@HotRodBoxing just FLIPPED THE SCRIPT against Oleksandr Gvozdyk!!!!
Watch LIVE NOW on @paramountplus 📺 pic.twitter.com/1jzJtugvye
— Zuffa_Boxing (@Zuffa_Boxing) February 2, 2026
Gvozdyk somehow made it to his feet but was staggering all over the ring, and referee Ray Corona quickly stopped the fight at 2:47 of round seven. At the time of the stoppage, Gvozdyk was well ahead with two 60-52 scorecards and one 59-93.
Kalajdzic said after 18 months out of the ring, he didn’t think there was going to be ring rust. “But the first five or six rounds, it was like I just started boxing. Thanks to my coach and teammates, they told me to trust myself, believe myself, be patient work behind the jab. They said if I landed that right correctly and threw it correctly, I would hurt him, and I did,” explained Kalajdzic. “It feels good to be back!”
“To win the way he did was incredible,” said Zuffa Boxing CEO Dana White, who awarded Kalajdzic and Valenzuela $50,000 bonuses as the fighters of the night, and gave the Fight of the Night to Bohachuk vs Butaev, who also both won $50,000 bonuses.
Viloria and Perez Deliver The Action
Fans were treated to a thrilling, all-action fight between highly regarding lightweight prospect Justin Viloria and Oscar Alan Perez, both undefeated coming into this bout. Viloria of Whittier, California (12-0, 8 KOs) got all he could handle from Perez of Houston (14-1-2, 7 KOs), with Viloria prevailing by decision with scores of 79-73, 78-74, and 77-75. Neither man took a step back for eight rounds, drilling each other to the body and head with solid speed, power and punch selection.
Viloria is the nephew of former world champion Brian Viloria, and there is plenty of Hawaiian Punch in Viloria’s DNA. Viloria is trained by his father Dominic, a U.S. Army veteran.
Welterweight Damoni Cato-Cain of Oakland (9-1-2, 7 KOs) won by unanimous decision over previously undefeated Christian Morales of Las Vegas (7-1, 7 KOs), who took the fight on just a few days’ notice, his first in the United States after fighting in Mexico. Scores were all over the board at 80-72, 79-73, and 77-75.
Jalil Hackett of Washington DC (12-1, 9 KOs) won a majority decision over Roberto Cruz Jr. of Puerto Rico (11-2, 7 KOs). Scores were 97-93, 96-94, and 95-95. The 22-year-old Hackett has fought all over for different promoters. If he can settle in with Zuffa and fight regularly, he can focus on developing his skills and presence.
In a heavyweight matchup, Damazion Vanhouter of Albany, NY, training in Florida (11-0, 8 KOs), had little trouble dishing out punishment to Julian Gomez of Mexico (7-4, 2 KOs), whose only real defense was his 60-pound weight advantage. But eventually it could no longer protect him. Vanhouter stopped Gomez midway through the third round.
Vanhouter is a small American heavyweight at 6-foot-2, similar to Richard Torrez Jr., which is a disadvantage in the era of the super heavyweights. But Vanhouter has skills, and it will be interesting to see how far he can take himself with Zuffa.
In the opening bout, cruiserweight prospect Jamar Talley of Camden, New Jersey (6-0, 5 KOs) had full control of Devonte Williams of Houston (13-4, 6 KOs) from the opening bell, needing just two rounds to stop Williams for his fifth knockout.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist and the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). She is the Managing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.