LOS ANGELES — Noel Mikaelian outmuscled Badou Jack in a foul-filled rematch to become the WBC cruiserweight champion for a second time on Saturday night.

Mikaelian and Jack were docked points for rabbit punching, and the fight got incredibly ugly at the end of the eighth round when their corners and commission officials stepped in to break up the combatants who were still wildly swinging at each other.

But ugly action aside, it was Mikaelian (28-3, 12 KOs) who controlled the clash against Jack (29-4-3, 17 KOs) throughout the 12 rounds at Ace Mission Studios, and he was rightfully rewarded with scores of 116-110, 116-110 and 115-111.

Seven months after declaring he was robbed of a win, Mikaelian delivered the statement performance he sought by dominating the second half of a bout that headlined Bash Boxing and 555 Media's "Championing Mental Health 2" show.

The first fight in May ended in a majority decision win for Jack even though Mikaelian outlanded him 153-122 while throwing 301 more punches. Mikaelian filed an immediate appeal that was granted by the WBC, and the fight moved forward once a $301,018 purse bid was secured.

Mikaelian, a 35-year-old Armenian, made sure there were no remaining questions in the rematch.

"We corrected the last decision and got my hand raised tonight," he said. "This time it was a fair judgment. Respect to Badou Jack, at his age especially."

Jack credited Mikaelian for the performance in what turned out to be a rough-and-tumble affair.

“It’s not easy to perform at this age,” said Jack, 42, who came into the fight as the sport’s second-oldest champion. “I don’t feel that great. I had a great career, and we’ll see what happens.”

Mikaelian, The Ring’s No. 6-rated cruiserweight, opened the first round by establishing the jab against Jack, who is ranked No. 5.

The second round ended with both fighters throwing multiple punches after the bell, prompting referee Jerry Cantu to issue a stern warning. It was the first sign of some roughhouse tactics to come from the pair of cagey veterans. But before the fouls, it was Mikaelian who was getting the better of the exchanges in the round.

Jack got into a great groove in the third by stopping Mikaelian in his tracks with several hard right hands.

Mikaelian answered in the fourth round with hard rights of his own. Seemingly frustrated with an earlier headbutt, Jack hit Mikaelian after the bell again. Cantu walked back to the corner with Jack and gave him a stern warning on the stool.

Mikaelian started breaking down Jack in the fifth and sixth rounds with several combinations and left hooks that backed him up.

Jack retaliated by rocking Mikaelian with several huge right hands in the seventh that backed his rival into the corner. After the sequence, Mikaelian was warned for holding and rabbit punching. Later in the round, after a single rabbit punch, Cantu docked a point from Mikaelian.

The eighth round got really ugly and featured excessive holding and rabbit punching, this time from Jack, who was docked a point. As the bell sounded, both fighters kept hitting each other, a sequence which forced their corners and officials to step in before it got even more out of hand.

Tempers were tamed from the ninth round on as Mikaelian got back on his front foot and led the action. Jack appeared fatigued and held excessively once the action moved into close quarters. Mikaelian, meanwhile, wisely answered by loading up with big shots as soon as he was granted space from Cantu's separations.

Mikaelian swept rounds 8-12 on the cards of the judges.

Mikaelian is now sitting pretty and is in prime position for a cruiserweight title unification bout in 2026 against The Ring and IBF champion Jai Opetaia as well as the winner of the May 2 matchup between WBA and WBO champion Gilberto Ramirez and David Benavidez.

Mikaelian first won the WBC cruiserweight title in November 2023 with a third-round stoppage win against Ilunga Junior Makabu but was downgraded to the Champion in Recess by the sanctioning body last year due to injuries and promotional issues with promoter Don King.