ALL EYES ON VEGAS FOR AN HISTORIC WEEKEND OF COMBAT SPORTS

Las Vegas…

Famous for its bright lights, casinos, nightlife and, most of all, its combat sports, this weekend sees three HUGE shows take place all within a 10-mile radius of each other in this incredible city.

First up on Friday night, it’s the start of something special as Zuffa Boxing stages its first show at the newly named Meta Apex.

Headlining the eight-fight card is top Irish contender Callum Walsh, who has been one of Dana White’s protégés for a fairly long time.

15–0 with 11 stoppage victories to his name, he faces the much more experienced Mexican, Carlos Ocampo.

With a record of 38 wins and three losses, Ocampo’s defeats have only come at the highest level to Errol Spence Jr, Sebastian Fundora and Tim Tszyu, and he is very much seen as the right step up at the right time for Walsh, who will be looking to get himself into world title contention at some point this year.

The undercard features exciting prospects such as Cain Sandoval and Robert Meriwether III, who will both be looking to add to their undefeated records against tough opposition.

Now to Saturday night, when the big action takes place.

Over at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, one of the greatest amateur boxers of all time, Andy Cruz, fights for his first world title in just his seventh fight against the hard-hitting Raymond Muratalla.

An Olympic gold medallist and three-time World Championships gold medallist, all eyes were on Cruz when he transitioned into the pro ranks back in 2023 and, so far, he’s been faultless, winning all six contests and picking up three stoppage victories in the process.

His newfound partnership with trainer Bozy Ennis, father of the undefeated Jaron Ennis, has seen him flourish and, last time out against the tough Japanese Hironori Mishiro, the Cuban put on a boxing masterclass to get the fifth-round stoppage.

Muratalla, meanwhile, has had a completely different career so far.

A solid amateur himself, which included a win over Ryan Garcia in the unpaid ranks, the American turned pro at the age of just 19 back in 2016.

Since then, he’s won all 23 of his 23 fights and picked up the IBF ‘Interim’ World Title in his last fight against Zaur Abdullaev.

He was promoted to full champion later in 2025 after the reigning champ, Vasyl Lomachenko, retired from the sport, and that has now set up this enticing clash with Cruz.

On paper, it’s a really tricky fight to call.

The professional experience and power certainly lie with reigning champ Muratalla, but knowing just how good Cruz is and could be, his ceiling, you would think, is much higher than Muratalla’s.

Have we seen the best of Cruz as a professional already? Most likely not. Have we seen the best of Muratalla as a professional? More than likely so.

That’s why this fight is so hard to predict. It could well be a big step too soon for Cruz, but it could also be the fight where he shows that he has transitioned into the pro ranks just as well as a lot of people anticipated he would.

Every fight, he looks a lot more mature. Every fight, he seems more willing to plant his feet instead of dancing and pot-shotting for every second of the round.

The fight will likely come down to what Cruz does. We know how good Muratalla is and we know how dangerous he is; we just don’t know how good Cruz is as a professional yet at this level.

If Muratalla can walk Cruz down early and make it uncomfortable for him, then you’d favour him the longer it goes. But if Cruz can use his skill and boxing IQ to frustrate the champion, we could well see a 12-round schooling from the former Olympic champ.

Either way, it’s a fight that is not to be missed.

Just over three miles down the road at the T-Mobile Arena, the UFC stage their first show of the year as Justin Gaethje headlines the main event against Liverpool’s very own Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett at UFC 344.

Gaethje, who’s 4–3 from his last seven fights, is renowned for being one of the most entertaining fighters in the organisation, having earned 14 bonuses from his 14 fights in the UFC – a feat that is yet to be matched by any other fighter.

Pimblett, however, is in the form of his career. After joining the UFC back in 2021 with a record of 16–3, he’s recorded seven straight victories with standout wins over the likes of Tony Ferguson and Michael Chandler.

These are two completely different fighters at two completely different stages of their careers.

The American Gaethje has won 20 of his 26 career wins by stoppage, whereas Pimblett, better known for being a submission specialist, is more rounded on paper, with 10 submission wins, seven knockouts and six decision victories from his 23 wins to date.

What could be the difference here, though, is experience at the highest level. Gaethje has mixed it with the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway, just to name a few, whereas Pimblett’s best wins over Ferguson and Chandler have come when Ferguson was on a six-fight losing streak and when Chandler had won just four of his last five fights.

Pimblett has improved massively, and Gaethje, you could probably argue, is past his prime – but is he past his prime enough for Pimblett to be able to get the better of him? Going off his victory over Rafael Fiziev, no, he’s probably not.

It’s no secret that if this fight stays on the feet, it favours Gaethje massively. If Pimblett can get past Gaethje’s impressive takedown defence, then he’s got a big chance of extending his UFC record to 8–0.

It’s a main event for a reason and, come Sunday morning, we’ll either be celebrating the Indian summer of Justin Gaethje’s career or the emergence of a new UK star in Paddy Pimblett.

On the undercard, Arnold Allen fights for the first time in 18 months against the game Brazilian Jean Silva, with Waldo Cortes-Acosta taking on the legendary Derrick Lewis in a heavyweight banger that is guaranteed to deliver pure violence.

One fighter to watch out for on the undercard, though, is the Cameroonian middleweight Ateba Abega Gautier.

Now fighting out of Manchester with Carl Prince’s Manchester Top Team, Ateba has won eight of his 10 professional MMA bouts by KO and has won all three of his UFC bouts so far by first-round KO, along with a second-round knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series.

Extremely heavy-handed and pure box office, his fight against Andrey Pulyaev is certainly one you need to tune in to see.

Don’t forget to head over to our partners Tenex Casino for the latest odds on the fight HERE.