Oleksandr Usyk Eyes MMA After Dubois Rematch
Oleksandr Usyk’s planned rematch with Daniel Dubois took place on July 19, 2025, at Wembley Stadium. Usyk knocked Dubois out in the fifth round to become undisputed heavyweight champion again. The rematch was the focus of his boxing plans in 2025, while an MMA crossover remained talk rather than a booked contest. Contemporary reports recorded the result and the fifth-round finish.
Before the rematch, Usyk had said he wanted Dubois next and that a potential crossover fight with UFC champion Alex Pereira could wait. The Ring reported those comments during the build-up to the rematch. Pereira’s challenge generated headlines because it paired a celebrated boxer with a UFC champion, but the two never signed an MMA bout.
The Wembley fight was a decisive sequel to their controversial 2023 meeting. Usyk stopped Dubois in the ninth round of their first fight; Dubois later disputed the referee’s ruling on a body shot that was called low. In the 2025 rematch, Usyk removed ambiguity with a fifth-round knockout and regained undisputed status across the major heavyweight belts.
The result also shaped Usyk’s later title decisions. In November 2025, he relinquished the WBO title rather than make a mandatory defense against Fabio Wardley. By June 2026 he had vacated his remaining WBC, WBA, and IBF titles while planning what he called his final fight, according to Reuters. His career continued in boxing, not in the UFC.
Usyk did later compete in a crossover boxing match against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven, winning by TKO in 2026, but that was still a boxing contest under boxing rules. This distinction matters because a challenge, an exhibition idea, and a sanctioned bout in another sport are different things.
The verified arc is that Usyk completed the Dubois rematch, won by fifth-round knockout, regained undisputed heavyweight status, and later vacated the belts while considering a final fight. Pereira’s MMA challenge did not become a scheduled match. The story remains a boxing career update, with the crossover speculation kept in its proper place.
