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1️⃣ There Can Only Be One
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Fight With Teddy Atlas Newsletter, your one stop shop for all things combat sports related, brought to you by Teddy and The Fight team.
THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas: Berchelt Upset | Will Smith Slap | UFC Columbus | Eddie Hall, Thor | Haney Kambosos, Teofimo Comment on Apple Podcasts — podcasts.apple.com
Teddy Atlas and co-host Ken Rideout discuss the weekend of fights with Berchelt upset by Nakathila and UFC Columbus, along with other news from around the fight world. Teddy and Ken also break down Will Smith's form with his slap of Chris Rock, and weigh in on Chris Rock's chin.
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Every Friday We Bring You:
A combat sports news digest with all the headlines you need to know from Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts.
Highlights from the podcast and across the fight world.
Fight times and information you need to know ahead of time.
How tos and tips for Boxing from Teddy himsel
Fight News From Around The 🌍
De La Hoya explains how Oscar Valdez beats Shakur Stevenson in their unification fight.
Caleb Plant eyeing Canelo rematch after fighting Benavidez and Charlo.
Al Iaquinta explains why open scoring isn't a good idea for MMA.
Aljamain Sterling is feeling confident ahead of his rematch with Petr Yan.
Inoue vs Donaire 3 belt unification rematch set for June 7th in Japan.
Jaimie Munguia and Danny Jacobs in talks for catchweight bout June 11th.
UFC owners pay packages for 2021 announced, with top exec Ari Emanuel banking $308 million.
The Lightweight Puzzle Is Almost Complete.
No Lomachenko? No problem?
Due to the conflict in Ukraine, Vasily Lomachenko's proposed bout with George Kambosos Jr in Australia was called off.
Devin Haney, the WBC champion at Lightweight, has stepped in to challenge "The Emperor" and stake his claim to being the best lightweight in the world.
The 23 year old has been vocal about the biggest fighters in the division avoiding him, despite him holding the WBC title since 2019.
He definitely can't complain about that anymore.
George Kambosos Jr defiantly took the titles from "the man who beat the man" Teofimo Lopez back in November 2021, dropping him in the first round, getting dropped himself and going on to win a split decision to win the unified crown.
Every conceivable belt in the division will be on the line when the two square off June 4th at the 60,000 capacity Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, with a view to crowing the first undisputed male lightweight champion of the 4 belt era.
Only the legendary Pernell Whittaker can lay claim to being undisputed at the weight, but this was back in the WBA-WBC-IBF era.
Standing between Haney and making history, is a fiercely determined and motivated George Kambosos Jr.
He'll be desperate to show that his success against Teofimo was no one-off, and that he is here to stay at the pinnacle of one of boxing's oldest and most prestigious divisions.
He went to deep waters against Teofimo Lopez and came out victorious against his younger opponent.
He applied educated pressure throughout and figured out Lopez's timing early on. When he did get caught he showed he has a great chin and the ability to ride out difficult periods and come back stronger.
He'll be looking to put on a similarly assured and dominant performance on home soil against Haney, who other than a couple of rounds against a faded Jorge Linares, has rarely been troubled in his 27 fights.
The American will likely be looking to use his speed and footwork to outbox Kambosos Jr. There are question marks over his punching power, and he'll have to ensure that they are addressed if he wants to get the unified champion's respect and execute his game plan.
Each man will have the chance to etch their name in the history books and put an end to the Lightweight title confusion that has plagued the division years.
The winner, will be the man.
No dispute.
Matchmaking UFC Heavyweights
The UFC, and MMA as a whole, is taking a respite this weekend.
With that in mind, and given Curtis Blaydes' impressive win last weekend against contender Chris Daukaus, we're going to take a closer look at the the Heavyweight division and some matchups that would make sense in the next 12 months.
Interim Title Fight: Stipe Miocic vs Tai Tuivasa
"BamBam" Tuivasa is a fighter on the up, having not lost a fight since 2019 and registering all of his subsequent wins by KO.
His latest, and most impressive win, was against 2x title challenger Derrick Lewis, knocking him out in the second round.
Stipe Miocic is a modern day MMA legend, who has only lost twice in the UFC since 2015, and he has registered at least one victory against both of the men who have beaten him during that time (Francis Ngannou and Daniel Cormier).
He'll no doubt be itching to get a shot at Ngannou again and regain his crown, in what will surely be his last title run before sailing off into the sunset.
Dana White has already discussed the possibility an interim title being created in the wake of Francis Ngannou's contract negotiations.
These two will feel they have enough body of work to be able to justify being next in line for a shot at the king, and it's very unlikely this one would go the 5 round distance.
Ciryl Gane vs Curtis Blaydes
Curtis "Razor" Blaydes feels like he's been around the UFC for a lifetime, and has been touted by analysts and fans alike as a future champion.
Still only 31, he recently called for his next fight to be against the former interim champ and recent full title challenger Ciryl Gane.
Stylistically it's a matchup that Blaydes will be licking his lips at, given the way that the relatively inexperienced grappler Francis Ngannou outwrestled and outmanoeuvred Gane on the mat in their title fight.
A win there would mean that Blaydes has beaten pretty much every top heavyweight not named Francis Ngannou or Derrick Lewis on the roster, and it would be impossible to not grant him a third shot at Ngannou.
However, if Gane refines his approach to incorporate more takedown defence, being mindful of Blaydes' inevitable attempts to shoot, he is the vastly superior striker and has all the abilities to finish the fight on the feet, which is where all 3 of Blaydes' losses have come.
Derrick Lewis vs Tom Aspinall
Tom Aspinall is fresh off the most impressive victory of his career, becoming the first man to submit Alex Volkov in over 10 years, doing so within the opening round of UFC London.
He's being touted as the future of the division, with a well rounded game that is rare for heavyweights to possess.
He can strike with power and can grapple with the elites.
The only question mark, if any, is around what happens when he does eventually get hurt?
What better person to test that than the record holder for the most knockouts in UFC history, "The Black Beast" himself.
Lewis is coming off 2 losses in his last 4 fights, both of them being by knockout, but he remains a formidable force at heavyweight who can shut the lights out of technically superior fighters, as he did with Volkov and Curtis Blaydes.
A litmus test for the up and comer, and a chance at redemption for the heavyweight veteran.
Sean Shelby, we hope you're reading all of this.