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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.
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.
Fight News From Around The 🌍
Lamont Roach Jr explains why his title fight with Gervonta Davis was pushed back 3 months.
Jamahal Hill sheds light on his confrontation with Alex Pereira at the UFC PI.
Islam Makhachev will rematch Arman Tsarukyan for the lightweight title at UFC 311.
Tommy Fury drops out of a boxing match with Darren Till due to concerns over Till kicking him.
Tyson Fury reveals his one condition for a trilogy with Oleksandr Usyk.
Liam Paro sets out to start a title reign at 140
Tomorrow night at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, undefeated fighters Liam Paro and Richardson Hitchins will clash for formers IBF super lightweight title.
Paro (25-0, 15 KOs), hailing from Australia, captured the title in June by upsetting the odds and defeating the consensus division bogeyman Subriel Matias in Puerto Rico. Now he has the chance to return to the setting of his greatest night and kick start what he hopes will be a long and fruitful title reign at super-lightweight.
Brooklyn native Hitchins (18-0, 7 KOs) earned his title shot with a hard-fought decision over Gustavo Lemos in April. Known for his technical prowess, the Lemos victory was his third consecutive decision win.
If Paro won the title against Matias by boxing smart and engaging at close quarters only when needed, he’ll need to dip into a new set of skills to get the better of the defensively responsible and solid Hitchins.
The winner will have an eye out for unifications, whilst the loser will have to lick their wound and go again.
Both guys are under 30 and would have plenty of time to rebuild, but neither man will want to be in that camp come Sunday morning.
Featherweight fireworks incoming in Phoenix
WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza will defend his title in a rematch against Robeisy Ramirez in Phoenix tomorrow night in a rematch of their 2023 Fight of the Year contender.
In that fight, Espinoza overcame a fifth-round knockdown to secure a majority decision victory, aided by a dramatic 12th-round knockdown of Ramirez.
Espinoza (25-0, 21 KOs), standing at 6'1", utilized his height and relentless punching volume to dethrone the two-time Olympic gold medalist Ramirez (14-2, 9 KOs). In their first bout, Espinoza landed 222 of 995 punches, overshadowing Ramirez's 119 of 376.
Since their last meeting, both fighters have recorded victories. Espinoza defended his title with a straightforward fourth-round TKO over Sergio Chirino in June, while Ramirez rebounded with a seventh-round stoppage of Brandon Leon Benitez.
Ramirez, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, has expressed confidence ahead of the rematch, aiming to showcase his true capabilities and leave it out of the judges hands this time around.
Espinoza will want to show that the old timers rule of a title making you 30% better still rings true and it’ll be enough for him to prove he is definitively the better fighter and a champion outright.
The final UFC PPV of the year
UFC 310 at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena will close the curtain on another great year of mixed martial arts PPVs, featuring two pivotal matchups for their respective divisions: Alexandre Pantoja defending his flyweight title against Kai Asakura, and undefeated welterweights Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry clashing in the co-main event.
Pantoja (28-5) aims for his third consecutive title defense. Asakura (21-4), a former RIZIN bantamweight champion, makes his UFC debut with aspirations of becoming Japan's first UFC champion. Known for his knockout power, Asakura faces a significant challenge adapting to the UFC's environment and weight class, especially considering he is jumping straight into a title fight, an extremely rare feat in any weight division.
Pantoja will want to make the most of being bumped up to the main event slot and showcase his immense (and somewhat under-appreciated) talent to the world.
Someone’s 0 has got to go
The co-main event showcases the undefeated pair Rakhmonov (18-0) and Garry (15-0), who will face off in a five-rounder.
Rakhmonov, originally slated to fight Belal Muhammad for the title, is yet to hear the final bell in the UFC, having KO’d or submitted all of his opponents up to now.
Garry, stepping in as a late replacement, brings supreme confidence and a striking skill set. With former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in his corner now as well, he’ll look to add a further dimension to his game and seize the opportunity to claim the #1 challenger spot at welterweight.
Rest Of The Card
Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
Bryce Mitchell vs. Kron Gracie
Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
Randy Brown vs. Bryan Battle
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
Boxing: Paro vs Hitchins (Saturday 13th/Sunday 14th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific | Main Event: 10pm Eastern/7pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 1am | Main Event: 3am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 10am Eastern/ 8am Western | Main event: 12pm Eastern/ 10am Western
Boxing: Espinoza vs Ramirez (Saturday 13th/Sunday 14th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 8:30 Eastern/ 5:30pm Pacific | Main Event: 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 1:30am | Main Event: 4am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 12:30pm Eastern/ 9:30am Western | Main event: 3pm Eastern/ 12pm Western
MMA: UFC 310 (Saturday 13th/Sunday 14th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific | Main Event: 10pm Eastern/7pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 1am | Main Card: 3am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 10am Eastern/ 8am Western | Main event: 12pm Eastern/ 10am Western