Sunday, February 15, 2026 | Meta APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada
Live on Paramount+ | Main Card: 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM PT
Zuffa Boxing returns to the Meta APEX on Sunday with an eight-fight card headlined by a heavyweight main event between Efe Ajagba and former IBF champion Charles Martin. The promotion’s third event in less than a month represents its most high-profile booking to date, placing two recognizable heavyweight names at the top of a card otherwise built around prospects and developmental matchups.
Main Event — Heavyweight (10 Rounds)
Efe Ajagba (20-1-1, 14 KOs) vs. Charles Martin (30-4-1, 27 KOs)
Ajagba, a 31-year-old former Nigerian Olympian, enters on a five-fight unbeaten streak dating back to his lone career loss against Frank Sanchez in 2021. His most recent outing, a majority draw with Martin Bakole on the Canelo-Scull undercard last May, kept him in the heavyweight conversation without moving the needle forward. The 6-foot-5 slugger with an 85-inch reach signed with Zuffa after parting ways with Top Rank following a dispute over an IBF eliminator purse bid.
Martin, 39, needs no introduction to heavyweight fans. His brief but memorable IBF title reign in 2016 — won against Vyacheslav Glazkov, lost 85 days later to Anthony Joshua in two rounds — remains the defining chapter of his career. In the years since, the St. Louis southpaw has served as a credible measuring stick for rising heavyweights, dropping decisions to Jared Anderson, Adam Kownacki, and Luis Ortiz. A first-round knockout of Matthew McKinney in November 2024 kept him active, but he enters Sunday’s fight having competed just 11 times in the nearly 10 years since the Joshua loss.
Ajagba is a significant favorite. His size, reach, and power should dictate the pace against a naturally smaller opponent whose activity level raises questions about ring sharpness. Martin’s southpaw stance and legitimate one-punch power make him dangerous enough to demand respect, but the path to an upset narrows considerably if Ajagba establishes his jab early and works behind it.
Co-Main Event — Light Heavyweight (10 Rounds)
Umar Dzambekov (13-0) vs. Ahmed Elbiali (24-1)
The most competitive fight on paper may be in the co-feature. Dzambekov, an undefeated Austrian prospect, takes a meaningful step up against Elbiali, a veteran with genuine power and only one career loss. This is a classic test of whether a rising fighter is ready for the next level, and Elbiali is the kind of opponent who can expose gaps if they exist. Dzambekov gets the spotlight on Paramount+ for the first time after fighting on UFC Fight Pass; Elbiali gets the chance to play spoiler.
Main Card
Abel Mejia (10-0) vs. Jaybrio Pe Benito (6-0) — Super Featherweight/Lightweight (8 Rounds)
Two undefeated fighters meet in the most intriguing undercard matchup. Mejia, 22, out of Orange, California, has been building buzz on the Southern California circuit at 130 pounds, with sparring sessions against Oscar Valdez and Joet Gonzalez on his resume. Pe Benito brings a perfect record of his own, making this a genuine prospect-versus-prospect clash rather than the standard step-up fight. Someone’s zero goes.
Leonardo Ruiz (16-1) vs. Casey James Streeter (15-2-2) — Middleweight, 160 lbs (6 Rounds)
Ruiz, 26, carries solid experience into a matchup against the veteran Streeter. Both fighters are coming off recent wins. A workmanlike middleweight bout that should provide useful competitive rounds for both.
Antonio Woods (14-1) vs. Mark Beuke (12-3) — Middleweight, 160 lbs (6 Rounds)
Woods, out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, looks to build on a strong 14-1 record. Beuke provides a veteran test at middleweight.
Undercard
Emiliano Alvarado (9-0) vs. Devin Gantt (5-2) — Featherweight, 126 lbs (6 Rounds)
The card’s most eye-catching story may be buried on the undercard. Alvarado is just 18 years old — born in March 2007 — and already 9-0 as a professional. The Coachella, California, native has been campaigning at around 120 pounds and steps up to featherweight here against the more experienced Gantt. For a fighter who won’t turn 19 until next month, the fact that he’s already being featured on a nationally streamed card speaks to the buzz around him.
Oswaldo Molina vs. Joshua Clark (9-1) — Lightweight, 135 lbs (6 Rounds)
A prospect-versus-prospect lightweight bout. Clark carries the nickname “Mr. Fantastic” and brings a strong 9-1 record into a fight that could position the winner for bigger opportunities within Zuffa’s growing stable.
Darial Kuchmenov vs. Jorge Lagunas (18-7) — Lightweight (6 Rounds)
Kuchmenov faces the most experienced opponent of any undercard fighter. Lagunas has been around, with 25 professional fights on his ledger, and provides the kind of durable, battle-tested opposition that prospects need on their way up.
Zuffa Boxing’s third card in three and a half weeks continues the promotion’s rapid-fire early rollout, all staged from the intimate Meta APEX rather than a traditional arena setting. The heavyweight main event is the promotion’s most marketable fight to date by a wide margin — Ajagba and Martin bring combined name recognition that none of the first two cards could match.
The Sunday night slot is also worth noting. Zuffa Boxing has leaned into the day as its regular home, a deliberate departure from boxing’s traditional Saturday night window.
