- THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas
- Posts
- 🥊 Dont Blink
🥊 Dont Blink
The Fight Team
May 12, 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.
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 🌍
Rolly Goes For Gold
Whatever your thoughts on Rolando “Rolly” Romero, there is no doubt the man knows how to generate attention. His trash talk helped build up the fight against Tank into a much bigger spectacle than it should have been given the gulf in talent between the two.
The result of the fight showed that, with Romero getting brutally knocked out in the 6th round.
However, despite the result, his ability to “sell” a fight have clearly worked to the extent that he’s been flung into a 140 lbs title fight just over a year after the Tank loss, in his first ever fight at the weight class.
His original opponent, full WBA champion Alberto Puello was stripped of the title following a positive drugs test. The vacant title will be disputed between Romero and former interim champion Ismael Barroso.
Barroso, despite not having lost since 2018, is 40 years old and not the fighter he was when he held the interim title back in 2016. Power is one of the last things to go with age, and Barroso has enough to command some respect early, but Romeros physicality is on another level.
A world title opens a lot of doors for Rolly, as 140 is on course to become one of the most hotly contested divisions in the sport, with the likes of Teofimo Lopez, Josh Taylor, Regis Prograis and Subriel Matias all either world champions or #1 contenders.
He may not be the most gifted boxer of the bunch, but Romeros personality and his power will score him big fights going forward, should he win on Saturday.
Big Hitters In Vegas
The UFC brings us a super interesting stylistic match up in the Fight Night on Saturday, as #9 ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik takes on #12 Jailton Almeida in the 5 round main event.
Almeida hasn’t lost since joining the UFC back in 2021, having finished all of his fights either by submission or knockout.
He’s young, powerful and confident in his fundamental grappling skillset - making him a very dangerous prospect in a heavyweight division that is stacked full of strikers, with Rozenstruik being amongst them.
The former kickboxer will also have his reasons to be confident ahead of the fight however.
He has only lost to top 5 level heavyweight talent (Ngannou, Gane, Blaydes and Volkov) and whilst Almeida is talented, he is by no means a top 5 heavyweight as of yet.
He won’t want to resign himself to being a heavyweight gatekeeper just yet, and a win would start a win streak that he can build towards an eventual shot at the title.
The co-main of this UFC Fight Night is just as good of a matchup, with former title challenger and MMA veteran Anthony “Lionheart” Smith taking on Johnny Walker in a 3 rounder.
Lionheart has had a staggering 53 MMA bouts throughout his career, spanning back all the way to 2008, at only 34 years old. He’s not getting any younger, and he knows that any slip ups will derail any hopes of going for a 2nd shot at the title.
Walker will be looking to extend his win streak to 3 on the bounce, after having gone on a run of 4 losses in his previous 5 fights. A win against Smith will be the kind of scalp he needs to build his case back up as a genuine contender for Jamahal Hill’s crown.
What to look for in the fights:
Early doors. Both are fast starters, with 2 of their last 3 fights ending in the first round. Expect them both to want to establish their favoured geography early and make it count within the first 5 minutes.
Geography. Walker has adopted a more measured approach to his fight style since he started his win steak. Smith is one of the craftier fighters in the division, and a slower pace will suit him as he’ll look to get inside and dominate Walker on the mat.
Hear From Lionheart Himself
Teddy and Ken had the honour of having both Anthony Smith and Chael Sonnen on the show a while back. Check out the episode below to hear a great conversation on mixed martial arts.
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
Boxing: Romero vs Barroso (Saturday 12th/Sunday 13th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 10pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific | Main Event: 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 3am | Main Event: 4am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/ 12pm Western | Main event: 3pm Eastern/ 1pm Western
MMA: Rozenstruik vs Almeida (Saturday 12th/Sunday 13th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 3pm Eastern/ 12pm Pacific | Main Event: 5pm Eastern/ 2pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 8pm | Main Event: 10pm
🇦🇺 Full Card: 5am Eastern/ 3am Western | Main event: 7am Eastern/ 5am Western