New UFC tournament, champions Devin Haney and Ebany Bridges. The 6 best fights of the week
December 4, 2023, 08:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
There are two more boxing matches for belts on the list.
A new week begins that will not leave us without interesting events in the world of boxing and mixed martial arts. Another UFC tournament is planned, which was urgently moved from Shanghai to Las Vegas and filled with great fighters in the shortest possible time. It will be directed by Yadong Song and Chris Gutiérrez. Among the main boxing events is the next fight of Devin Haney, who will fight Regis Prograis for the WBC world title. We will also see the return of the sex symbol of world boxing: Ebany Bridges. We have compiled the main events for next week (December 4 to 10) and we will tell you more about them.
The night of December 9 to 10. Régis Prograis – Devin Haney
A tournament will be held in San Francisco on the night of December 9-10 and the card there looks more impressive. The boxing evening is headlined by the fight for the junior welterweight title between Regis Prograis and Devin Haney, who shortly before abandoned all the lightweight belts, where he was the undisputed world champion. In his last fight, Devin controversially defeated Vasily Lomachenko and now, with a record of 30-0, he moves up to a new weight and will immediately try to take the belt from the current WBC champion. Prograis did not immediately accept this fight, for him this is only the second defense of the belt that he won in November last year. Regis has 29 wins and only one loss. Josh Taylor handed it over to the reigning champion in 2019. Obviously, Prograis doesn’t want to repeat this history, but Haney has his own plans for him.
Devin Haney
Photo: Getty Images
The night of December 9 to 10. Ebony Bridges – Avril Mathie
The girls will also perform on the same bill with Haney and Prograis. Ebany Bridges (9-1), who has long been called the sex symbol of world boxing, will defend the IBF world bantamweight title. The Australian won the belt last March in a fight with Maria Roman, and then successfully defended it by knocking out Shannon O’Connell. Now Bridges’ opponent will be her compatriot Avril Mati, who is coming off her loss to Ramla Ali. In total, Mati has eight wins, one loss and one draw. The girls have little knockout power, including just seven knockouts in 20 fights, but Ebany, one way or another, draws attention.
Bridges always causes a stir among fans:
Photo
Bridges is an unreal beauty! She arrived at the weigh-in half naked and then punched her opponent.
The night of December 9 to 10. Robeisy Ramírez – Rafael Espinosa
Also on the night of December 10, a boxing evening will take place in Pembroke Pines, the main event of which will be the fight for the WBO featherweight world title. Cuban Robeisy Ramírez will make his second defense of the title in a fight with the undefeated and very dangerous Rafael Espinosa. Ramirez began his career with one defeat, but then won 13 times, simultaneously taking the vacant WBO title in a fight with Isaac Dogboe and defending it in a fight with Japan’s Satoshi Shimizu. Espinosa is Mexican and has 21 victories in 21 fights, 18 of them by knockout. It is worth paying attention to the dimensions of Raphael. His height is 185 centimeters, which is very high for this weight category. For example, Ramírez is only 168 centimeters tall. Will this help Espinosa?
The night of December 9 to 10. Yadong Song – Chris Gutiérrez
This year’s penultimate UFC tournament will take place in Las Vegas at the Apex Arena on the night of December 10. It was initially supposed to take place in Shanghai, China, but for unknown reasons the event was shipped to the US and the card had to be urgently reassembled. The main event of the night will feature top bantamweights Yadong Song and Chris Gutierrez. The Chinese fighter occupies seventh place in the ranking and comes after his victory over Ricky Simon. Song has long dreamed of a fight with Petr Yan, but first he needs to overcome the strong and experienced Gutierrez. Chris confidently dealt with Hayley Alateng in October and is ranked 14th. For the American, this is a great opportunity to get closer to the top 5.
In August, Song was the victim of an armed robbery:
MMA skills don’t save you from a gun. Chinese UFC star stolen in US
The night of December 9 to 10. Anthony Smith – Khalil Rowntree
In the co-main event of the same UFC tournament, light heavyweights Anthony Smith and Khalil Rountree will face each other. Initially, Rountree’s opponent was Azamat Murzakanov, and the fight was scheduled for December 2. The Russian withdrew and Anthony Smith came in as a replacement, but the fight was brought forward a week. Smith is a true MMA veteran with 54 fights under his belt and is currently ranked eighth in the light heavyweight rankings. In his last fight he defeated Ryan Spann. Rowntree, for his part, is now on the rise and is on a four-fight winning streak, three of them by knockout. Khalil is ranked 11th and a fight with Smith could be a ticket to the top 10.
Khalil Rowntree
Photo: Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
December 10. Chris Billam-Smith as Mateus Masternak
On December 10, a boxing tournament will be held in Bournemouth (England), which will be headlined by the fight for the WBO light heavyweight world title. Local fighter Chris Billam-Smith (18-1) will make his first defense of the belt. The Brit is on a nine-match winning streak and in his last fight he won by decision against Lawrence Okolie, who was knocked down three times. Chris’s opponent will be Polish veteran Mateusz Masternak, 36, who has 52 fights in his professional career (47-5). The Pole won his last six fights and earned contender status. This is his first chance to win a world title.
