🇲🇽 Viva Mexico!

July 15, 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 breakdown the past weekend of fights along with some a couple from two weeks ago.

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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 🌍

Joseph Parker vs Otto Wallin being explored as potential heavyweight clash.

Ryan Garcia Steps Up (Again)

In 2021, it looked like Ryan Garcia's star was about to explode to new heights.

He became the first man to stop Olympic gold medallist Luke Campbell in January of last year, and in passing his toughest test to date, super fights with other young stars in his division like Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis seemed on the horizon.

Instead, he remained inactive for the rest of the year, amidst a split with 2021 trainer of the year Eddy Reynoso and mental health struggles.

Now under the tutelage of Joe Goossen, Garcia will be looking to kickstart the kind of year that 2021 should have been for him, and secure his 2nd decisive win of 2022.

His last outing against the unheralded but awkward Emmauel Tagoe was dominant but ultimately, given the gap in talent between the two, disappointing considering the kind of performance he had given against Campbell.

Perhaps it's unfair to expect consistent progression from such a young fighter, but considering the extraordinary success of his lightweight peer Devin Haney, as well as Gervonta Davis, it's understandable that boxing fans have a high benchmark to measure him against.

Thankfully, Javier Fortuna is on hand to provide a stern test for the 23 year old and give him the chance to earn another big win.

Fortuna is an experienced campaigner, albeit having seen his best days as a world champion a division below at super featherweight. Nonetheless, he is still a very good lightweight operator who has never been stopped at the weight, having been in with the likes of Robert Easter, JoJo Diaz and Sharif Bogore.

Whilst there could be questions over whether he still has the desire to challenge at the highest level of one of boxings deepest divisions, he has a little extra fire under him for this fight.

Much was made (perhaps unfairly) of Garcia's pullout of their originally scheduled bout this time last year, and Fortuna was very skeptical about the mental health issues that Garcia was having at the time.

This has added an unexpected animosity to the matchup, as Garcia feels the need to punish the Dominican for his lack of understanding, and Fortuna looking to take out his frustration on him.

It'll make for a great added ingredient for what is sure to be an interesting fight, with Garcia likely to try and plant his feet early and impose himself on the smaller Fortuna.

Fortuna will look to utilise his greater experience and work in bursts in the pocket and smother the larger man. If Garcia isn't wise to his inside fighting, he could see himself dragged into a longer fight than he wants.

It's a must win for him if he wants to progress onto the truly elite level at lightweight, where the likes of Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis, Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos lie waiting in the wings.

All Mexican Showdown

If he kept the hold only for a few more seconds, Brian Ortega would be the current UFC Featherweight champion.

But Alex Volkanovski got out of his guillotine choke just when it seemed like T-City had him, and went on to win a decision. The margins in this sport are so, so tight, and ultimately Ortega fell short of his second title challenge.

However even in defeat, his stock went up even more, and considering just how dominant the champion was in his latest defence, the fact that Ortega pushed him that far goes to show how close he is to championship calibre.

Despite having been a UFC fighter since 2014, Yair Rodriguez has never gotten a shot at the title, and considering the fact he's still in his twenties and has huge amounts of talent, it would be silly to bet against him getting a shot at gold eventually.

Beating a 2x challenger in Brian Ortega would be the ticket that takes him to that coveted shot at P4P #1 Volkanovski, giving him the chance to become only the 2nd ever Mexican born UFC champion (after Brandon Moreno).

Grappler vs Striker matchups are often fascinating, and this one is no exception. Ortega is as accomplished of a BJJ practitioner as it gets, having pure Gracie trained pedigree and creative ways of mixing his submissions into takedowns and strikes.

Yair is a talented kickboxer with lightning-quick movement and the ability to seamlessly switch stances mid-strike. He's a natural striker who will be confident in his ability to keep the fight standing. He's also the owner of the latest and most dramatic UFC elbow knockout in history.

What the fight will likely come down to, is each fighters supposed "weak points", namely Ortega's striking and Yair's grappling. Whoever ends up having more success with their respective weak area will will the fight.

Ortega’s striking accompanied by Rodriguez’s grappling are equally under-appreciated fight skills, making each very well-rounded fighters.

Ortega has shown an evolution in his striking ever since the Max Holloway fight, and Yair's ability to effectively sprawl and use his footwork to avoid takedowns has been a trademark of his recent outings.

Whoever wins will most likely be the next challenger for the title, setting up either a mouthwatering rematch between Ortega and Volkanovski, or paving the way for a first title shot for"El Pantera".

Stylistic matchups don't get much better than this.

Fight ⏰ for this weekend

Boxing: Garcia vs Fortuna (Saturday 16th/Sunday 17th)

  • 🇺🇸 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

UFC: Ortega vs Rodriguez (Saturday 16th/Sunday 17th)

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

  • 🇬🇧 Full Card: 7pm | Main Event: 9pm

  • 🇦🇺 Full Card: 4am Eastern/ 2am Western | Main Event: 6am Eastern/ 4am Western

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

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