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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.
THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas: Tyson Fury stops Derek Chisora | Estrada beats Chocolatito | Dubois over Lerena | UFC Fight Night on Apple Podcasts — podcasts.apple.com
Teddy Atlas and co-host Ken Rideout breakdown the recent fights of Tyson Fury vs Derek Chisora 3, with Fury winning by TKO, along with Daniel Dubois vs Kevin Lerena, the Román Chocolatito González vs Juan Francisco Estrada trilogy, and UFC Fight Night with main event Stephen Thompson vs Kevin Hollan…
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Fight News From Around The 🌍
Crawfords Homecoming
Terence "Bud" Crawford makes the 6th defence of his WBO welterweight title on Saturday as he takes on former (regular) champ and current European welterweight champion David Avanesyan.
Whilst Avanesyan is no slouch, it's a noticeable step down from the opponent that every boxing fan was hoping for: Errol Spence Jr.
Instead, Crawford stopped negotiations with Spence's handlers and proceeded to take this voluntary defence, which is also his first fight as a free agent following the expiration of his deal with Top Rank last year.
He'll be fighting in his hometown of Omaha for the first time since he stopped Jose Benavidez Jr in 2018, this time headlining a PPV event fronted by boxing newcomers BLK Prime.
He's a heavy favourite to retain his title and move into the new year with the Spence fight front of mind.
Having said this, Crawford is not the kind of fighter to overlook an opponent. He was razor sharp in his recent stoppage win against Shawn Porter, becoming the first fighter to stop the former champion.
Avanesyan has good wins on his resume, although losses to Lamont Peterson and former Crawford victim Mean Machine raise questions as to just how likely he is to be a banana peel here.
It's disappointing, but we can at least look forward to a clinical performance from one of boxings current pound for pound mainstays as he looks to push onto undisputed in 2023.
What to look for in the fight:
Bucking the trend. 7 of Crawford's last 9 finishes have come after the 6th round. However, Avanesyan is a slow starter and tends to come on stronger as the fight goes on. It's unlikely that Crawford will let him, so look for a finish around the middle rounds after Crawford gets a read for his tells.
Splitting the guard. Avanesyan likes to apply constant forward pressure with a high guard. It'll help him keep it tight early on, but look for Crawford to feint to find openings in the guard and punch through it throughout the fight, most likely to great success.
Teofimos Test
Teofimo Lopez fights his second fight at 140 lbs on Saturday, taking the main event slot on a Top Rank ESPN+ card in New York. His opponent is the Spaniard Sandor Martin, best known for upsetting 4 division champion Mikey Garcia a few years back.
Martin is stepping in on short notice following the withdrawal of original opponent Jose Pedraza through illness.
Lopez has always been vocal about his ability, and despite his humbling at the hands of Kambosos, his confident attitude has gone up in weight with him.
Following his stoppage win over an overmatched Pedro Campa, the slick boxer Martin represents his first real challenge at super-lightweight.
Should he win, big fights await on the horizon.
A recently crowned WBC champion Regis Prograis has expressed interest, and there's a potential fight with the winner of the anticipated Taylor vs Caterall rematch over in the UK.
What to look for in the fight:
Hook, line and sinker. Lopez whips his hooks across very fast and likes to lead attacks with them. Look for him to try and time the southpaw Martin's jab with hooks and use them to open up damaging attacks.
Movement. Martin is a very good boxer who knows how to counter aggressive fighters and look smooth doing it. There's a good chance he can make this fight competitive, or at least convince a judge that it was.
No Jiří? No Problem.
Jiří Procházka's serious shoulder injury ruling him out of his scheduled rematch with Glover Teixeira proved to be a blessing for the two fighters just below them in the co-main event.
Those two fighters are now the headlining act, and as an added bonus, they'll be fighting for the title vacated by the champion due to the length of time his injury will sideline him for.
Jan Blachowicz has tasted championship gold before, having won the title back in 2020 by knocking out Dominick Reyes. He then went on to defend it against Israel Adesanya, further boosting his credentials as the successor to Jon Jones.
A Cinderella story rise from Glover Teixeira brought an end to Jan's reign last year, but he now has the opportunity to right his wrongs and join Jon Jones and Randy Couture as the only 2x Light Heavyweight champions.
Magomed Ankalaev has been earmarked as a future champion for a while now, having rebounded from his debut loss to Paul Craig and dominated most of his opponents since with crisp, accurate striking.
There's a similar air on inevitability around him that followed Islam Makhachev for years, and he'll be looking to join his fellow Dagestani as an active UFC champion.
It may not have been the original main event, but it's still a fight that is very worthy of the slot, and a phenomenal way for the UFC to end their 2022 PPV calendar.
What to look for in the fight:
Grappling. Like we saw in spurts with Adesanya vs Pereira, two strikers can look to grappling to try and carve a path to victory. Despite being Dagestani, Ankalaev's ground game is not too far off from Blachowicz, so look for an even contest on the mat if it goes there.
Rushing. Blachowicz can sometimes rush into attacks without setting them up appropriately. This has gotten him into trouble in the past, and against an accurate southpaw striker like Ankalaev, it could get him stopped.
Experience. Blachowicz is used to the 5 round pace, and has shown an ability to switch up game plans mid-fight. Ankalaev's only 5 rounder was against post injury, fairly static Thiago Santos. Blachowicz brings a whole new level of danger, so keep an eye on those championship rounds.
Great fights to not miss on the card:
Bryce Mitchell vs. Ilia Topuria
Darren Till vs. Dricuss Du Plessis
Paddy Pimblett vs. Jared Gordon
Chris Curtis vs. Joaquin Buckley
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
Boxing: Crawford vs Avanesyan (Saturday 10th/Sunday 11th)
🇺🇸 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: Lopez vs Martin (Saturday 10th/Sunday 11th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 9pm Eastern/ 6pm Pacific | Main Event: 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 2am | Main Event: 4am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 1pm Eastern/ 11am Western | Main event: 3pm Eastern/ 1pm Western
UFC 282 (Saturday 10th/Sunday 11th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 10pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific | Main Event: 12am Eastern/ 9pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 3am | Main Event: 5am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/ 12pm Western | Main event: 4pm Eastern/ 2pm Western