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🇬🇧 The Decider Awaits
The Fight Team
March 17, 2023
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 Rubber Match
The UFC can't get enough of our friends across the pond.
The organisation returns to British shores for the third time in a year, this time bringing the UK's first ever PPV event, headlined by the trilogy fight between Leon "Rocky" Edwards and Kamaru "The Nigerian Nightmare" Usman.
Last time out in Salt Lake City, Edwards scored a last minute head-kick to knockout the then pound for the consensus pound for pound #1 at the time. He was down on the cards, but rallied to produce one of the most spectacular knockouts in UFC history, under the brightest of lights.
In London, he'll no doubt have the crowd behind him, but Kamaru Usman remains one of the most formidable fighters in the world, and he'll be out to prove that his 2nd career defeat was a total fluke.
Usman was the dominant fighter for the vast majority of their time shared together in the Octagon thus far. In their first fight in 2015, Usman was the clear winner by unanimous decision. Even in the second bout, despite a few spots of trouble, he was on his way to another clear cut victory before being knocked out cold.
If he wants to remain in the conversation as one of (if not the) greatest welterweight of all time, defeat is not an option in London. Should he be able to go 2-1 against Edwards, his welterweight legacy is back on track.
Another defeat however, and it'll be back to the drawing board for the former champion who was undefeated for almost 10 years prior to his recent loss.
Edwards also knows a thing or two about win streaks, as he hasn't lost a competitive fight since dropping that decision to Usman. He has very much taken the long, winding staircase all the way to the top of the division, having to go through contender after contender to earn his spot at the summit of the division.
Now he's there, there's no way he's going down in front of his country without a fight.
What to look for in the fight:
Explosivity. Edwards did a phenomenal job at controlling the distance with kicks. He maintained good speed and power throughout the first round but seemed to fade as the fight when on and Usman piled on the pressure. If he's able to stay explosive for longer stretches and match Usman then there's a much better chance of victory for him down the stretch.
Openings. Usman will be expecting another head kick set up at some point, and it's very hard to un-train tendencies to slip either side. Look for Leon to exploit other attacks and try and force Usman into a straight right or left hook if he can keep him within striking range.
The co-main event in London serves up one what is sure to be one of the fights of the night. How can we be so sure?
Justin Gaethje.
The "Highlight" has 10 fights in UFC and 10 performance bonuses, including six “Fight of the Night” honours. He has taken losses along the way, but has always gone out on his shield.
Rafael Fiziev will be looking to put him on the wrong end of a highlight reel on Saturday night as he continues his ascent up the lightweight division, coming off the back of a career best win against former champion Rafael Dos Anjos.
Someone as stubborn and tough as Gaethje won't be willing to accept his role as gatekeeper of arguably the UFC's most talented division. He'll be in London to score an upset and defeat one of the most talented strikers in the sport.
Fun fact: Gaethje is an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler but has never scored a takedown in his UFC career.
Other great fights on the card:
Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze
Gunnar Nelson vs Bryan Barberena
Jennifer Maia vs Casey O'Neill
Muhammad Mokaev vs Jafel Filho
Commentating Royalty Stops By
Teddy and Ken were joined on the most recent podcast by modern day commentating legend and friend of the show Jon Anik. They discussed upcoming UFC super-fights, commentating and much more.
Check out a clip from the full episode by clicking below.
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
MMA: UFC 286 (Saturday 18th/Sunday 19th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 5pm Eastern/ 2pm Pacific | Main Event: 7pm Eastern/ 4pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 9pm | Main Event: 11pm
🇦🇺 Full Card: 8am Eastern/ 6am Western | Main event: 10am Eastern/ 8am Western