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🇲🇽 An All Mexican Showdown
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.
How-to’s and tips for Boxing from Teddy himself.
Fight News From Around The 🌍
Someone’s 0 Will Go
Edgar Berlanga continues his professional journey tomorrow night in Orlando, Florida when he takes on fellow undefeated super middleweight Padraig McCrory in a 12-rounder.
Flashback to 2020 and Berlanga was being touted as boxing’s next great knockout artist, with his first 16 professional opponents failing to get out of the opening round against “The Monster”.
Super middleweight gatekeeper Desmond Nicholson bucked the trend at fight number 17, not only getting past the first round but taking him the distance.
The Brooklyn native has failed to recapture his devastating KO form since having banked 4 consecutive unanimous decision wins against the likes of Steve Rolls, Roamer Angulo and more recently former world title challenger Jason Quigley.
With the knockout aura gone, it forced the still-only 26-year-old Berlanga to work on his boxing ability, and we are seeing a steady improvement in his ring IQ and ability to manage fights down the stretch.
Talks of a Canelo fight might be slightly premature, but there’s no question that Berlanga is steadily working towards world title contention, whether that be against the current undisputed champ or when those belts inevitably disperse in the next couple of years.
Undefeated Northern Irish boxer Padraig McCrory knows he isn’t the division’s biggest name on either side of the pond.
He’s spent his professional career division hopping, going as far as cruiserweight as well as picking up an IBO world title at light-heavyweight.
What he lacks in star power, he makes up for in size and confidence. He stands as the first opponent Berlanga has faced at this level with an undefeated record, as well as one of the few fighters who is naturally bigger than him (and he’s fairly big for the weight).
A Canelo-shaped prize dangling on the horizon could be enough of a push to make this fight much more competitive than the bookies have it.
Fight Odds
Second Time Lucky
The flyweight division takes centre stage tomorrow night in the UFC as former champion Brandon Moreno rematches perennial title challenger Brandon Royval.
It echoes their 2020 encounter, also coming in on relatively short notice after Royval replaced the injured Amir Albazi this time around. With both fighters coming off respective losses to the current champ Alexandre Pantoja, victory here significantly advances either man’s title aspirations.
Their first encounter saw Moreno capitalise on Royval's injury, securing victory through relentless ground-and-pound pressure.
However, both have demonstrably sharpened their skill sets since then, with Moreno going on to capture UFC gold on two separate occasions, whilst Royval has only lost since to Pantoja.
While both are primarily strikers, they possess dangerous grappling skills as well, potentially leading to important scrambles in the transitions between stand-up and the mat.
The co-main event features another rematch, a featherweight clash between former interim champion Yair Rodriguez and 2x challenger Brian Ortega.
Their previous fight in 2022 ended with Ortega unable to continue due to a shoulder injury sustained during a submission attempt, giving Rodriguez the TKO win.
Since then, Rodriguez has kept busy, defeating Josh Emmett to win the interim strap and pushing then-champion Alexander Volkanovski to the limit in a title fight. Whilst he came up short, there is no denying that he is working towards a complete skillset capable of one day capturing full featherweight honours.
On the other hand, Ortega hasn’t fought since the loss, raising concerns about his sharpness coming into the rematch. He’s never been the most active fighter in the division, but how he recovers from this particular injury could have a big impact coming up against an active and dangerous “Pantera”.
Rodriguez's superior striking and momentum from their previous fight paint a favourable picture for him. However, Ortega remains a constant threat on the mat, and the fact that it’s a 3-rounder could favour him given the time off.
Hopefully, their rematch lasts longer than the first fight and adds something to an already interesting 2024 featherweight title picture.
Fight Odds
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
Boxing: Berlanga vs McCrory (Saturday 24th/Sunday 25th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 9pm Eastern/ 6pm Pacific | Main Event: 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 2am | Main Event: 4am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 11am Eastern/ 9am Western | Main event: 1pm Eastern/ 11am Western
MMA: Moreno vs Royval 2 (Saturday 24th/Sunday 25th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 10pm Eastern/7pm Pacific | Main Event: 12am Eastern/9pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 3am | Main Event: 5am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/ 12pm Western | Main event: 4pm Eastern/ 2pm Western