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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.
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 🌍
The Takeover vs The Technician
On Thursday 8th Feb, before Super Bowl LVIII, Teofimo Lopez will defend his WBO and Ring Magazine junior-welterweight titles against Jamaine Ortiz.
Following a world title run at lightweight, “The Takeover” moved up to 140 lbs in August 2022 with a seventh-round TKO against Pedro Campa and a split decision over Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin that December.
Despite being the betting underdog, Lopez then upset former undisputed champion Josh Taylor to capture the WBO and Ring Magazine titles last June in New York, becoming a two-division champion at just 25 years old.
Following a very brief retirement, Lopez now gets the chance to stake his claim in a division that’s only become more competitive in the last 12 months, with the likes of Devin Haney (WBC), Subriel Matias (IBF) and Rolando Romero (WBA) holding belts, alongside numerous top contenders like Ryan Garcia and Pitbull Cruz waiting in the wings.
If he’s going to have a repeat of his belt-collecting achievements at 135 lbs, he can’t afford a slip-up on Thursday night against Jamaine Ortiz.
Competing in his first world title bout, “The Technician” is coming off a one-sided points verdict win over Antonio Moran last September. In 2022, Ortiz won two out of three including a victory over former world champion Jamel Herring, before giving former pound-for-pound king Vasily Lomachenko a close fight across 12 rounds.
He and Lopez’s history goes back to the amateur circuit, where Lopez got the nod in the final of the 2015 Golden Gloves over three rounds. Both men will have developed as fighters since then, and although Lopez has achieved more as a pro so far, you would imagine Ortiz will want to push on and match his former rival in achievements.
If his ambition and hunger match his technical ability, we could be in for one of the best title fights of the year already.
Fight Odds
A Fresh Start
On Saturday, Top 15 middleweights Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov square off in a huge main event matchup at Middleweight.
After a breakout 2022, going three-for-three inside the Octagon, Roman Dolidze looked like he was primed for title contention, finishing all of his opponents within the first or second round.
Inactivity and bad luck plagued him in 2023, with a close loss to Marvin Vettori his lone fight of the year, given that both Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier were unable to fulfil their commitments to fight him to due promotional issues and injury respectively.
2024 is a chance to start fresh, both for Dolidze and his opponent tomorrow.
Nassourdine Imavov has had a parallel trajectory to Dolidze in many ways. He too collected 3 impressive wins in 2022, before suffering his first pro loss in January 2023, to eventual champion Sean Strickland. His second fight of the year with Chris Curtis ended in a No-Contest due to an accidental clash of heads, meaning he too ended 2023 without a win.
Before his fight against Strickland, Imavov was one of the division’s rising stars, and for good reason, with his crisp striking and underrated takedown defence generating “future champion” talk. Win tomorrow, and he can get people talking again.
Dolidze has ambitions of his own, which make the stakes for this middleweight match-up even higher. Neither man can afford to not have a strong 2024, and tomorrow is the first chance to hit the ground running.
Fight Odds
Fight ⏰ for this weekend (and beyond)
Boxing: Lopez vs Ortiz (Thursday 8th/Friday 9th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 9pm Eastern/ 6pm Pacific | Main Event: 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 2am | Main Event: 4am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 11am Eastern/ 9am Western | Main event: 1pm Eastern/ 11am Western
MMA: Dolidze vs Imavov (Saturday 3rd/Sunday 4th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific | Main Event: 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 12am | Main Event: am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 11am Eastern/ 9am Western | Main event: 1pm Eastern/ 11am Western