🥊 This One's Personal

March 04, 2022

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 discuss the past weekend in boxing. Teddy weighs in on what many are saying is a robbery with the Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall split decision. They also preview the upcoming Colby Covington vs Jorge Masvidal fight at UFC 272. We introduce a new segment of "Quick…

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 tos and tips for Boxing from Teddy himself

Fight News From Around The 🌍

Friday Night Boxing

Tonight sees the return of former unified Super-Lightweight José Ramirez, who takes on two division champion José Pedraza in a Mexico vs Puerto Rico clash.

Those two fine boxing nations have produced some all time classic clashes, from the Salido vs Lopez to the more recent Navarette vs Diaz.

Not only do two men get in the ring to fight over 36 mins, but two proud nations face off to see which country will add a score to their collective rivalry that has spanned decades.

For the two Josés, there's a lot more on the line than national pride.

Following Josh Taylor's performance last week to "defend" his Undisputed title, it looks likely that the Scot won't be sticking around at the 140 lbs limit too much longer, looking to move up to welterweight.

This will likely cause dispersal of the 5 belts that make up the undisputed crown, of which the winner of Ramirez vs Pedraza is very likely to benefit from, especially considering both are affiliated with Top Rank.

Ramirez has already had a crack at becoming top dog and fell just short, thanks to two well timed knockdowns from Josh Taylor when they faced off last year.

His high pressure style will match up well against the sharpshooter Pedraza, who prefers to counterpunch and pick his moments from the outside.

Who you favour in the "pressure vs boxer" matchup usually depends on the power that the latter possesses and whether it'll be enough to keep the more active fighter honest.

Here, there are question marks over whether Pedraza will be as powerful at 140 lbs as he was when he was campaigning at 130 lbs, and it'll be interesting to see how he handles Ramirez.

It'll be a real clash and styles and nations, potentially determining the front-runner for a share of the post-Josh Taylor spoils in the division.

Small But Mighty

Saturday night sees the future Hall of Famer Chocolatito Gonzalez take on the young Julio Cesar Martinez in a Super-Flyweight clash.

The veteran Chocolatito has been at Super-Flyweight (115 lbs) since 2016, holding both the WBC and WBA titles individually during that time frame.

Martinez, who is 7 years younger than his opponent, is widely considered to be the best Flyweight in the world, having held the WBC title since 2019 and put in dominant performances in his first 3 defences.

His fourth saw him knock down challenger McWilliams Arroyo early on, but he went on to get dropped himself before the fight was declared a No Contest due to a clash of heads.

The firefight with Arroyo in what was supposed to be a routine defence has dampened the aura of invincibility around the young Mexican, making the fight with the older but more experienced Chocolatito even more intriguing.

The smaller weight classes never really seem to have trouble in matching up their elite fighters, and it serves as an example to the higher divisions in how it's done.

Despite their size, Saturday night will likely deliver fireworks from both men.

One is a former pound for pound mainstay who is looking to end his career on a high, whilst the other is a hungry young KO artist looking to make a case for pound for pound status.

The Ultimate UFC Grudge Match

This one is very much personal.

Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal headline UFC 272 in what feels like a title fight, but is really a heated grudge match between two former team-mates at American Top Team.

The two were allegedly much closer than that, even living together in Miami during their early MMA careers.

However, around 2019, it seems that things started to go south.

Covington alleges that Masvidal was jealous of his (interim) title success against Dos Anjos and that his status as a bona fide PPV attraction went to his head.

Masvidal on the other hand, contends that Covington refused to pay the coaches at ATT and that his "bad boy" persona put him at odds with the entire gym, eventually leading to him being kicked out entirely.

Whatever happened, the two do not like each other and it adds an extra edge to what is already a stylistically great match up.

Should the fight stay on the feet, Masvidal will undoubtably have the advantage as the more educated and technical striker of the two. Despite his recent losses, he still possesses enough power to conceivably knock Covington out.

Covington’s chin is not unstoppable, and Usman cracked it the first fight and nearly put him away in the rematch. If Masvidal can stifle Colby's inevitable takedowns and keep it standing, he is in good shape to be able to get the W.

It's a big if though.

Colby's level of wrestling is extremely high, even being able to land a takedown on the previously unmovable Kamaru Usman. His game is predicated on good ground fundamentals and intense pressure from the opening bell.

Masvidal has previously struggled with technical grapplers, as seen in the first Usman fight as well as his 2017 title eliminator with Demian Maia.

It's a much closer fight than the bookies have it, and it'll be intriguing to see who manages to impose their geography on the other.

A striker vs wrestler matchup with a deeply personal edge.

Bring on UFC 272.

Fight ⏰ for this weekend

Boxing: Ramirez vs Pedraza (Friday 4th/Saturday 5th)

  • 🇺🇸 Full Card: 8:00pm Eastern/ 5:00pm Pacific | Main Event: 10pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific

  • 🇬🇧 Full Card: 2:00am | Main Event: 3am

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 12:00pm Eastern/ 9:00am Western | Main Event: 2pm Eastern/ 11am Western

Boxing: Gonzalez vs Martinez (Saturday 5th/Sunday 6th)

  • 🇺🇸 Full Card: 8:30pm Eastern/ 5:30pm Pacific | Main Event: 10pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific

  • 🇬🇧 Full Card: 1:30am | Main Event: 3am

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 12:30pm Eastern/ 9:30am Western | Main Event: 2pm Eastern/ 11am Western

UFC: Covington vs Masvidal (Saturday 5th/Sunday 6th)

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

  • 🇬🇧 Full Card: 3am | Main Event: 5am

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/ 11am Western | Main Event: 4pm Eastern/ 1pm Western

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

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