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🥊 The UFC Goes To Saudi
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.
Fight News From Around The 🌍
Ghostbuster Tank
Gervonta “Tank” Davis proved once again why he is one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world at the weekend when he knocked out the formerly undefeated Frank Martin in the 8th round.
After 14 months out of the ring, Tank found his groove and shook off any ring rust that was lingering with a brutal KO, which Teddy breaks down in detail below.
In the co-main event, David Benavidez was taken the distance by former champion Alex Gvozdyk in his debut fight at 175 lbs.
The former 2x WBC super-middleweight champion looked fresh early on, but started to fade as the fight progressed, and it now remains to be seen if light-heavyweight will be a permanent home for “El Monstro” or more of a temporary pit stop on the way to a Canelo fight at 168 lbs.
He has the talent to compete in the division, but the issue may be more who is already there waiting for him.
New Opponent? No Problem
Mixed Martial Arts joins Boxing in being the latest combat sport to find a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia, as the UFC makes its debut in the kingdom with a stacked Fight Night card, headlined by Robert Whittaker vs Ikram Aliskerov.
Aliskerov was a last-minute replacement for Khamzat Chimaev, who had to withdraw from the bout due to illness, and his compatriot’s misfortune has become his opportunity to go from unranked to a genuine contender in the division.
Former UFC middleweight titleholder Robert Whittaker has only lost to two opponents in the 185-pound weight class: Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis, the former and current UFC middleweight champions respectively.
The level of competition that he’s not only faced, but beaten since 2017 is miles ahead of Aliskerov, and the “Reaper” knows that any slip-up at this stage in his career will make another title run much harder, so he’ll without a doubt be bringing his A-game.
Aliskerov will feel hard done by being excluded from the Top 15, as he’s coming into the main event riding a seven-fight win streak, with six of those victories ending by way of knockout or submission.
His only career loss to date was a KO defeat to Chimaev back in 2019, and he has improved considerably since having built on his impressive combat sambo background and developed into a very well-rounded fighter.
Whether he’s a fighter at the level of a seasoned contender like Whittaker is another question though. The former champion has, in addition to his effective and dynamic striking style, one of the best takedown defences in the entire organisation, making him extremely difficult to beat both on the feet and on the mat.
He’s also seen it all when it comes to middleweight contenders, and his edge in overall experience at the top level should see him come through this.
The co-main event is a heavyweight blockbuster that should be a banger…for as long as it lasts.
Hard hitter Sergei Pavlovich is coming back from his KO loss to Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight strap, which snapped a streak of 6 consecutive first-round knockout wins.
Heavyweight veteran Volkov on the other hand is coming off a 3 fight-win streak (all of them within the distance) and despite his advancing age, he has all the ability to further derail the younger Pavlovich.
The two have shared multiple training camps together, and Volkov has admitted to “not winning a single round” against his compatriot.
Whether it’s subtle mind games or refreshing honesty, Volkov has his work cut out for him tomorrow night, but don’t count this old dog out just yet as he brings a threat from standing with crisp boxing and a very good submission game.
Don’t blink in this one.
Rest Of The Card
Kelvin Gastelum vs Daniel Rodriguez
Shara Magomedov vs Antonio Trocoli
Johnny Walker vs Volkan Oezdemir
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
Boxing: Denny vs Cash (Saturday 22nd/Sunday 23rd)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 2pm Eastern/ 11am Pacific | Main Event: 5pm Eastern/ 2pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 7pm| Main Event: 10pm
🇦🇺 Full Card: 4am Eastern/ 2am Western | Main event: 7am Eastern/ 5am Western
Boxing: Espinoza vs Sanchez (Saturday 22nd/Sunday 23rd)
🇺🇸 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: Whittaker vs Aliskerov (Saturday 22nd/Sunday 23rd)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 12pm Eastern/9am Pacific | Main Event: 3pm Eastern/12pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 5pm | Main Card: 8pm
🇦🇺 Full Card: 2am Eastern/ 12am Western | Main event: 5am Eastern/ 3am Western