☘️ Luck Of The Irish

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.

Teddy Atlas and co-host Ken Rideout have Chael Sonnen and Anthony Smith on the show to talk all things UFC following UFC 272 with Colby Covington beating Jorge Masvidal. They discuss how dominant Colby was, just how impressive Usman is given that, if Chimaev is the next best, Chimaev vs Burns, the m…

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Fight News From Around The 🌍

Conlan Eyes Featherweight Title

World title action goes down the land of Robin Hood this weekend, when WBA Featherweight champion Leigh Wood defends his title for the first time against the Irish Olympian Michael Conlan.

It's one of the rare cases where the multiple belt fiasco of the WBA has actually helped.

Wood is technically the "Regular" champion, but seeing as "Super" champ Leo Santa Cruz hasn't actually competed at the weight in over 2 years, he is effectively the champion.

At least that'll be the narrative should Conlan be triumphant.

He's been built up for what seems like a lifetime now, having made his professional debut in 2017 at Madison Square Garden following his controversial 2016 Olympics loss to Vladimir Nikitin.

He's always brought a loyal Irish following behind him and will look to bring further notoriety to himself by joining the exclusive club of Irish world champions.

Wood is no pushover though, and his rise to the top has been a stark contrast to Conlans.

He came through the ranks the hard way, fighting his way up from small hall shows until reaching British level, where he suffered his first loss down at super-bantamweight.

He's since rebuilt at Featherweight, where he captured the British title with a brutal KO of Reece Mould in February.

In the summer of 2021, at only 6 weeks notice, he stepped up to challenge then WBA champ Xu Can, dominating and eventually stopping him in the 12th round.

6 of his last 7 fights have all ended in a stoppage win for him, albeit against lower calibre opposition than Conlan.

The champ will have the home crowd of Nottingham on his side on Saturday, but he'll need more than their support to get past the Irishman.

What Conlan lacks in pure punching power at Featherweight, he makes up for in skill and ring IQ.

As Ireland's most successful amateur fighter in history, he's got the ability to out-box any Featherweight on the planet, and this will no doubt he his game plan coming into the fight with Wood.

It's a risky strategy, especially given the recent judging decisions across the pond, but it's one that Conlan will be confident of making him Ireland's latest world champion.

Ankalaev Steps Up

Magomed Ankalaev will look to sneak his way into the top 5 at Light Heavyweight this weekend with a victory over UFC veteran Thiago Santos.

The Brazilian has become somewhat of a divisional gatekeeper following his valiant but ultimately failed title challenge to then champion Jon Jones.

Those who have beaten him (Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic) have either gone on to become champions or are positioned as the next contenders for the title.

Those who havent, namely Johnny Walker, are deemed off the pace when it comes to elite title contention.

He is the ultimate 200 lbs litmus test for the UFC.

Beat him, and you're probably good enough for a shot at the Light Heavyweight title, which has changed hands twice since Jon Jones left the division 2 years ago.

Lose, and you'll be at least a few year away from title contention.

Losing is something Magomed Ankalaev hasn't experienced often in his MMA career.

His lone defeat was one of the latest (4:59 of round 3) in the history of the UFC, when he was submitted via triangle choke by Paul Craig back in 2018 at UFC London.

Since then he's won 7 on the bounce and will look to claim his most impressive scalp yet in Santos when the two collide at the UFC Apex.

His base in combat sambo and wrestling should put him at a stylistic advantage against the striker Santos.

As we saw this past weekend, fighters with wrestling foundations are having more and more success on the feet thanks to their takedown threat keeping the strikers on their toes.

Ankalaev will look to follow this template to victory, but Thiago Santos is one of the most prolific KO artists in UFC history, with a record KO wins down at Middleweight.

His power has carried up to Light Heavyweight, and if he has the ability to KO former champion Jan Blachowicz, he'll like his chances against the Russian.

Fight ⏰ for this weekend

Boxing: Wood vs Conlan (Saturday 5th/Sunday 6th)

  • 🇺🇸 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/11am Pacific | Main Event: 5pm Eastern/2pm Pacific

  • 🇬🇧 Full Card: 7pm | Main Event: 10pm 

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 6am Eastern/ 3am Western | Main Event: 9am Eastern/ 6am Western

UFC: Ankalaev vs Santos (Saturday 5th/Sunday 6th)

  • 🇺🇸 Full Card: 7pm Eastern/ 4pm Pacific | Main Event: 9pm Eastern/ 6pm Pacific

  • 🇬🇧 Full Card: 12am | Main Event: 2am 

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 11am Eastern/ 8am Western | Main Event: 1pm Eastern/ 10am Western

Don't forget to tune in to the latest episode 🎧

In the latest episode of the podcast, we were honoured to be joined by the brilliant Chael Sonnen and Anthony Smith.

You don't want to miss this one!

Thanks for being with us and see you next week #BANG💥