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 🌍

Teofimo Lopez reiterates desire to retire by vacating his recently won WBO title.

Aljamain Sterling confirms his fight with Sean O’Malley will be his last at bantamweight.

Spence Jr and Crawford go at each other at their kick-off press conference in New York.

Time starts to wind down for Conor McGregor to return in 2023 as USADA deadline approaches.

Jermall Charlo emerges as frontrunner over Badou Jack for Canelo Alvarez’s next opponent.

Homecoming King

Regis Prograis will defend his WBC super lightweight title against Danielito Zorrilla on Saturday at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

It’ll be his first fight in his hometown since 2018, and his first in Louisiana since he beat Kiryl Relikh for the WBA title.

Prograis, after years out in the promotional wilderness following his razor close decision loss to Josh Taylor, is finally getting the platform a fighter of his talent deserves. He’s being backed by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing, whose host of talent at 140 lbs will make for great match ups with the explosive southpaw.

Regis has the talent, the knockout power, the fanbase and now finally, the promotional backing to make waves and unify the division that he came so close to taking over back in 2019.

Zorrilla, nicknamed "El Explosivo," will look to put a halt to any best laid plans. He has a record of 17-1-0, with 16 wins coming by way of knockout. Whilst he may not be a big name, and is arguably a step down from the original scheduled opponent Liam Paro, he is still dangerous and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Even though Prograis isn’t the type of fighter to overlook anyone, he’ll be extremely confident of being able to kickstart the latest chapter of his career with a resounding win.

What to look for in the fight:

• Power. Both these fighters have brilliant KO records, but Regis will believe in his ability to hurt any light-welterweight on the planet. Zorrilla has a tendency to start strong but fade as the fight goes on, so look for Regis to end things after the round 5-6 mark.

• Zorrilla has a tendency to lead with his straight right. This could cause Prograis a few problems early on, but look for him to use his defensive acumen to adapt and counter off the top of it.

Middle Of The Road

Marvin “The Italian Dream” Vettori and Jared “Killa Gorilla” Cannonier face off in a scheduled 5 rounder at UFC Fight Night at the Apex in Las Vegas, in a battle of #3 vs #4 in the middleweight rankings.

Vettori is coming off a strong showing over up and comer Roman Dolidze, having previously fallen short against former champion Robert Whittaker.

The fact the Italian has only ever lost to champions or former champions shows the level that he’s at compared to his peers, and not even being 30 years of age, he still has time to fulfil his dream of being a world champion.

Cannonier, who has also lost to Adesanya and Whittaker, will have a bit more urgency about pushing for another run at the title. He turns 40 next year, and knows that another loss at the upper echelons of the division will see his title chance move from slim to virtually none.

Despite not being a number 1 contender fight necessarily, it feels like there’s a lot riding on it. A loss for either man would be a serious setback (perhaps more so for Cannonier), so you would imagine that both men would go into it looking to implement the best fight plan to not only win, but do it in style.

What to look for in the fight:

• Power vs Pressure. Cannonier has god given power, whilst Vettori’s pressure fighting is relentless. Given the fight will most likely be fought standing (unless Vettori is hurt), it’ll come down to whoever is able to impose their style on the other and look commanding to the judges.

• Takedowns. Vettori has the bonus of having the “get out of jail card” of shooting for takedowns should the fight necessitate it. It’s an additional part of the arsenal that could lead him to victory here as Cannonier’s takedown defence isn’t the strongest.

Hear From The Champ

Teddy and Ken had the pleasure and privilege of being joined by Regis Prograis straight after his title fight victory over Jose Zepeda last year.

Skip to 47:31 in the episode to get to the interview with Regis, who gives insights on his victory, his training style and thoughts on the division as a whole.

Fight ⏰ for this weekend

Boxing: Prograis vs Zorrilla (Saturday 17th/Sunday 18th)

• 🇺🇸 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

Boxing: Tszyu vs Ocampo (Saturday 17th/Sunday 18th)

• 🇺🇸 Full Card: 10pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific | Main Event: 12:30am Eastern/ 9:30 Pacific

• 🇬🇧 Full Card: 4am | Main Event: 5:30am

• 🇦🇺 Full Card: 1pm Eastern/ 11am Western | Main event: 2:30pm Eastern/ 12:30pm Western

MMA: Vettori vs Cannonier (Saturday 17th/Sunday 18th)

• 🇺🇸 Full Card: 10pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific | Main Event: 12am Eastern/ 9pm Pacific

• 🇬🇧 Full Card: 3am | Main Event: 5am

• 🇦🇺 Full Card: 12pm Eastern/ 10am Western | Main event: 2pm Eastern/ 12pm Western

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