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⚔️ Battle Of The North
The Fight Team
October 06, 2023
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.
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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 🌍
Featherweight Fireworks
This Saturday in Sheffield, UK, two of the featherweight division's most consistent contenders, Leigh Wood and former champion Josh Warrington, will face off for Wood’s WBA title.
Leigh Wood began the year was a devastating KO loss to Mauricio Lara, where he was knocked out after leading on all the scorecards going into the 7th. Many felt it was Lara’s time and that the 35 year old had gone as high as he could in the division.
Boy were they wrong.
In May, he bravely accepted an immediate rematch, even though Lara missed weight by a significant margin. Wood's determination paid off as he dropped Lara twice on his way to a decisive decision victory, becoming a 2x champion at featherweight.
Like Wood, Warrington experienced a stoppage loss to Mauricio Lara, his first fight after losing his IBF featherweight title outside the ring.
During his initial reign, Warrington secured the belt by defeating Lee Selby and defended it against former champion Carl Frampton and future titleholder Kid Galahad. After the technical draw in the Lara rematch, there were questions raised about whether Warrington had also reached his ceiling.
Nevertheless, he persevered, trading victories with Kiko Martinez to briefly reclaim the IBF title before losing a majority decision to Luis Alberto Lopez.
Warrington has a large fanbase in northern England, and an all-action style that always entertains, so he’d have no issue getting fights even when title-less. However, he’ll be as hungry as ever to prove his doubters wrong and become a 3x featherweight champion.
What to look for in the fight:
Straight vs. Hook. Leigh Wood throws a well-schooled and accurate straight 1-2, and in his last fight against Lara it was on full display. Warrington times his hooked punches very well, especially when he gets in range. Whoever is “first” most often with their signature punches will take this.
Third fist. Warrington has a bit of a reputation for accidental headbutts, having caused several cuts over the years. If it happens again, it could swing the momentum of the fight in his favour and disrupt any Wood may have built establishing his jab and getting shots off.
Lightweight Crossroads
Lightweight prospect Grant Dawson makes his UFC main event debut this weekend, sharing the Octagon with veteran contender Bobby Green on Saturday at the UFC Apex.
Dawson hasn’t tasted defeat during his 9 fights in the UFC so far, winning 5 of them by either knockout or submission. His climb up the ranks has been steady, and Green will represent the biggest litmus test of his MMA career so far.
The “King” looked great last time out against a past his best but still dangerous Tony Ferguson and was very good in his clash with Jared Gordon before it was stopped by an accidental clash of heads.
Scalps he’s claimed include Al Iaquinta, Nasrat Haqparast and Clay Guida, and even if he was on the losing end, he’s been in there with the elite of the lightweight division.
He’s an excellent wrestler with sharp, accurate striking, so it’ll be interesting to see how successful the grappling-heavy Dawson will be and how he’s able to navigate his first main event if he runs into issues executing his main offence. It’ll be sink or swim for the 29-year-old to try and figure out a tough and competitive lightweight contender, who is coming off the biggest name win of his career.
No matter how this plays out, it should be a very entertaining matchup and further proof that the UFC doesn’t do layups for any of their fighters.
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
Boxing: Wood vs Warrington (Saturday 7th/Sunday 8th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/ 11am Pacific | Main Event: 5pm Eastern/ 2pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 7pm | Main Event: 10pm
🇦🇺 Full Card: 4am Eastern/ 2am Western | Main event: 7am Eastern/ 5am Western
Boxing: Ramirez vs Smith Jr (Saturday 7th/Sunday 8th)
🇺🇸 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: Dawson vs Green (Saturday 7th/Sunday 8th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 7pm Eastern/ 4pm Pacific | Main Event: 9pm Eastern/ 6pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 12am | Main Event: 2am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 9am Eastern/ 7am Western | Main event: 11am Eastern/ 9am Western