"This time the card is ours."
Indian boxer Neeraj Goyat is making his boxing comeback and will be facing former UFC champion Anthony Pettis in a landmark event.
The six-round super-welterweight contest, fought at 154 pounds, is scheduled for January 23, 2027.
The venue is yet to be confirmed. Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Chennai are in contention to host, with the city and venue to be announced in November.
Goyat has spent more than 10 years taking Indian professional boxing abroad. He was the first Indian boxer to be ranked by the World Boxing Council and is a former WBC Asia champion.
In 2024, he became the first international fighter to sign with MVP.
That year, he defeated Brazil’s Whindersson Nunes on the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson card, an event watched by 108 million on Netflix.
Now on a five-fight winning streak, Neeraj Goyat will be facing a well-known name in combat sports in his home country.
He said: “I have fought in China, in Thailand, in America and in the UK, and every time I was the Indian on somebody else’s card.
“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.”
Mixed martial artist Anthony Pettis brings considerable combat sports pedigree.
The American won the WEC Lightweight title in 2010 and the UFC Lightweight World Championship in 2013.
Pettis has also tested himself in professional boxing, compiling a 1-1 record.
His boxing victory was against former world champion Roy Jones Jr.
Outside the ring, Pettis is a co-promoter of India’s MMA league, the Indian Fight League (IFL), and the Indian Pro Boxing League (IPBL).
He has spent the last two years helping build combat sports in India.
The fight against Neeraj Goyat will come 20 years after Pettis’ first professional fight and just days before his 40th birthday.
The bout also carries a personal motivation as his younger brother, Sergio Pettis, fought in Hyderabad in March 2025 and lost a unanimous decision to India’s Sabari Jaishankar.
Pettis now looks to secure a victory against another Indian opponent.
He said: “I have seen what Indian fighters can do, and Neeraj is the best of them.
“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.”
The matchup also reflects MVP’s ambitions to expand its boxing events internationally and help develop fighters capable of attracting audiences beyond their home markets.
The promotion’s co-founders, Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, said Goyat’s potential to become a globally recognised boxer was a key factor in signing him.
In a joint statement, they said: “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.
“Now he has the opportunity to headline a historic event in his home country against one of the biggest names in combat sports.
“Anthony Pettis is an MMA icon, but this is boxing, and we expect Neeraj to show exactly why we believed in him from day one.”
With Pettis bringing championship experience and an established name in combat sports, Goyat faces a high-profile test as he looks to build on his recent winning run.
