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Hometown boxing champ Regis Prograis' new promoter says New Orleans can be a fight town again – NOLA.com

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Regis Prograis poses with his family after the weigh-in ahead of Saturday’s fight against Danielito Zorilla at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Regis Prograis walks onto stage as he is introduced to be weighed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel ahead of SaturdayÕs fight against Danielito Zorilla in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Reigning WBC super lightweight boxing champion Regis “Rougarou” Prograis poses at the Milne Rec Center in New Orleans, Thursday, May 25, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Willie Pastrano was considered one of boxing’s most artistic fighters. He retired on March 30, 1965 with a record of 63-13-8 in 84 career bouts.
Friends and family of boxers show their support during the weigh-in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. Regis Prograis and Danielito Zorilla will box in the Smoothie King Center on Saturday. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Regis Prograis, center, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, with his new promoter, Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn at left, being interviewed live on DAZN after the weigh-in ahead of Saturday’s fight at the Smoothie King Center against Danielito Zorilla. [Friday, June 16, 2023. Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune]
Regis Prograis holds his youngest daughter Khalini Prograis, 2, as he is interviewed next to his son Ray Prograis, 9, right, during the weigh-in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Danielito Zorilla, of Puerto Rico, poses as he is weighed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel ahead of the fight against Regis Prograis in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
A Rougarou walks around in honor of Regis ÒThe RougarouÓ Prograis after the weigh-in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel ahead of SaturdayÕs boxing match against Danielito Zorilla in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Regis Prograis poses with his family after the weigh-in ahead of Saturday’s fight against Danielito Zorilla at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Regis Prograis, center, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, with his new promoter, Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn at left, being interviewed live on DAZN after the weigh-in ahead of Saturday’s fight at the Smoothie King Center against Danielito Zorilla. [Friday, June 16, 2023. Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune]
Regis Prograis holds his youngest daughter Khalini Prograis, 2, as he is interviewed next to his son Ray Prograis, 9, right, during the weigh-in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Eddie Hearn, one of the world’s biggest sports promoters, has a plan to make New Orleans a destination city for big-time boxing.
It starts Saturday with the WBA World Super Lightweight title fight, featuring hometown hero Regis “The Rougarou” Prograis.
Hearn signed the New Orleans East-born champ to his promotional firm, Matchroom, only seven weeks ago with the promise that he would stage Prograis’ next title defense in New Orleans. And at the Smoothie King Center Saturday, Prograis will put his title on the line against Puerto Rican fighter Danielito “El Zorro” Zorrillo.
Reigning WBC super lightweight boxing champion Regis “Rougarou” Prograis poses at the Milne Rec Center in New Orleans, Thursday, May 25, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
“I said to him, ‘This is not just to lure you into signing with us, but is part of the bigger strategy,'” said Hearn. “I want to sell out that place on Saturday and maybe go to (the Caesars Superdome) in time with massive mega fights, with big-name opponents. But it starts with selling 5,000, 8,000, 10,000 tickets.”
It will be the first world boxing title fight in New Orleans featuring a native New Orleanian since local light-heavyweight Willie Pastrano beat Gregorio Peralta at the Municipal Auditorium in April 1964. Still, the expectations are modest.
Willie Pastrano was considered one of boxing’s most artistic fighters. He retired on March 30, 1965 with a record of 63-13-8 in 84 career bouts.
The Smoothie King Center has been configured for a “small bowl” event, with 8,000 ticketed seats available and —as Prograis touted several times at Thursday’s press conference— ticket prices as low as $20. Matchroom representatives reckon they had sold about 5,000 tickets by Friday.
As with all big fights, the wattage of the stars it attracts will be a measure of success. Expected ringside are Zion Williamson, Master P, Ja’Marr Chase and boxing stars like Roy Jones, Jr.
“Saturday night is all about putting on a great show, having a good crowd to build off and create some excitement and then coming back in September, October,” said Hearn, who expects Prograis, the heavy betting favorite, to hold onto his title this weekend.
New Orleans has a storied association with boxing. It was the site of the first world championship heavyweight prize fight in the U.S., which was held on May 10, 1870 at Kenner’s old Sugar House between two Englishmen. There’s a statue on River Road commemorating the event.
Twenty-two years later, another famous world heavyweight contest was held at the Olympic Club in New Orleans, when John L. Sullivan lost to “Gentleman” Jim Corbett over 21 rounds.
On Saturday, hometown boxer Regis Prograis will defend his WBA World Super Lightweight belt in the Smoothie King Center, a fight that his boxi…
More recent events include Muhammad Ali’s rematch with Leon Spinks to regain his title in 1978 at the Superdome, and the “No Mas” fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran two years later.
But in recent years, few cities have been able to compete with Las Vegas as the world’s big fight capital, both in boxing and in mixed-martial arts. Economic impact studies for Las Vegas showed that fights by big stars, like Floyd Mayweather or Conor McGregor, generate around $100 million for the city.
For New Orleans to capture some of the action depends on how Prograis performs.
The Prograis deal with Matchroom is for three fights, all of which will be shown on subscription sports channel DAZN. Matchroom last month extended for another three years the $1 billion deal it signed with DAZN five years ago. Most fight revenue comes from television. The terms of Prograis’ cut have not been disclosed.
Friends and family of boxers show their support during the weigh-in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. Regis Prograis and Danielito Zorilla will box in the Smoothie King Center on Saturday. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Regis Prograis walks onto stage as he is introduced to be weighed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel ahead of SaturdayÕs fight against Danielito Zorilla in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Though Prograis, 34, is a highly-rated champion who has won all but one of his 29 fights— the loss being a controversial championship fight four years ago in London to Briton Josh Taylor — the fighter said he’s been unhappy with his promotors in the past. Now, his division is hot and he’s named among other stars who have fought big fights this year, including Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez.
He said he wants more control over his career and has formed Rougarou Productions to jointly promote his fights with Matchroom. Prograis said he’s been handling a lot of the retail promotion in New Orleans.
“My team of people have been handing out flyers, we’ve been doing email blasts, I’ve been taking money out of my own pocket to do as much as I could,” he said.
Hearn said that for New Orleans to compete it needs to show it can post big box office receipts. The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, for example, fills to its 17,000 capacity for big fights, with tickets starting at $400.
“For the mega-fights that’s where Vegas dominates—you have to be able to bring in that kind of gate,” said Hearn. 
ASM Global, which operates the Smoothie King Center, the Caesars Superdome and other venues in the city on behalf of the Superdome Commission, is looking at the event as an experiment, said Evan Holmes, ASM’s general manager.
“We’ve been looking to diversify the kind of events we host and felt as though there was an opportunity for us to do some live mixed martial arts or boxing,” said Holmes. “Knowing the relationship with the fighter to the market, we felt this was a good prospect for us,” he added, though noting that their involvement is limited only to renting to Matchroom and helping with some promotion.
Danielito Zorilla, of Puerto Rico, poses as he is weighed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel ahead of the fight against Regis Prograis in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Caesars executives also said when they inked their Superdome sponsorship deal two years ago that they want to use the company’s connections to bring big boxing events to New Orleans.
“Consider me more than a casual observer,” said Dan Real, the New Orleans-based Chief Experience Officer at Caesars, who said they have blocks of front row seats for the fight. “We are watching closely to see how the fans respond.” The soon-to-be renamed Harrah’s casino will be showing the fight and Caesars’ interest also extends to the recently-legalized sports betting that it has been heavily promoting.
A Rougarou walks around in honor of Regis ÒThe RougarouÓ Prograis after the weigh-in at the Hyatt Regency Hotel ahead of SaturdayÕs boxing match against Danielito Zorilla in New Orleans, Friday, June 16, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Hearn, 44, whose father was also a well-known boxing promoter in his native London, said he sees a gap in the U.S. market for promoting fighters like Prograis, especially in a city like New Orleans.
“In America, the strange thing is that no one really builds a fighter in their home city even though it’s the most natural, obvious thing to do,” Hearn said. “Why put a fighter like Prograis in L.A.?” he asked, referring to Prograis’ last world title defense at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Holmes said they will continue to back Prograis if the response is promising. “We definitely will go down the path of identifying more dates for them and trying to elevate it,” he said.
“Hopefully this weekend is successful,” said Holmes. “You don’t know unless you try and we’re going to find out real quick how the market reacts.”
“If we can prove that New Orleans can be a fight town there could be a lot more here,” said Prograis. “That’s what I want to see.”
Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate.com.
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MMA Divisional Rankings, November 2023 – MMA Fighting

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In the ever-shifting MMA landscape, ranking the world’s greatest fighters might seem like a fool’s errand, but that’s exactly we’ve set out to do with the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. Here, our esteemed panel sorts out the movers and shakers from every division to provide you with the most definitive list of the best fighters on the planet.
Let’s take a look at the biggest rankings storylines from this past two-month cycle (Aug. 21 – Oct. 24).
(Ed. Note: These rankings are updated as of Nov. 20, 2023.)
Here’s what I wrote about the then-unranked Khamzat Chimaev back in August:
Fear not, Khamzat fans, should he get past Paulo Costa at UFC 294 as expected, you’ll see him snatch a cherry spot in the middleweight rankings. Until then, everyone’s favorite wrecking machine remains in limbo.
Suffice to say, things did not go quite as expected.
The good news is that Chimaev did end up fighting at UFC 294, and in an actual established weight class. The bad news is that it wasn’t against an established middleweight, but rather former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman stepping in on 10 days’ notice.
Chimaev ultimately beat Usman in a fight where he was dominant for the first five minutes and then shaky for the next 10. The result was a majority decision where one judge scored the fight a 28-28 draw, a fair score given that Chimaev had a difficult time mustering up any meaningful offense against Usman in Rounds 2 and 3. If anything, it looked as though Usman was the one building up steam as the bout came to a close, and he later lamented the lack of championship rounds, something he’d understandably grown accustomed to.
Still, a win is a win, and though our panel wasn’t quite ready to rocket him up the charts (one panelist even left him off their ballot completely), Chimaev slots in at No. 10 in his first appearance on our middleweight rankings. This may turn out to be a case of “ranking, shmankings” anyway, because UFC CEO Dana White said in the lead-up that the winner of UFC 294’s co-main event was expected to challenge champion Sean Strickland.
White wasn’t quite as emphatic when asked about that status after the fight, but regardless, Chimaev is well on his way to finally getting the chance to “smesh” someone for a belt.
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It was a fun rivalry while it lasted, wasn’t it?
In an ideal world, Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski’s second meeting would have occurred a little later in their careers, with Makhachev racking up a couple of title defenses against actual lightweights first and Volkanovski continuing his incredible championship run at featherweight. But there’s something neat about these two settling the score in a single calendar year, even if it happened under less-than-ideal circumstances and even if it resulted in Makhachev delivering a brutal head-kick knockout to win the series.
Could Volkanovski have performed better with a full camp? Undoubtedly. Does the best version of Volkanovski beat Makhachev in their rematch? That, we don’t know, but the reality is they’ve met twice in the octagon and twice Makhachev has been the better man. Accept this and move on, is my advice.
That’s what’s best for the lightweight division, with Makhachev hopefully sticking around at 155 pounds to defend against Charles Oliveira or Justin Gaethje or maybe even past opponent Arman Tsarukyan somewhere down the line. Makhachev has also spoken about moving up to welterweight in the event that Colby Covington takes that title from Leon Edwards, which would undoubtedly intrigue the matchmakers (even if might make a few fans’ eyes roll).
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There was a time when light heavyweight and women’s bantamweight were marquee divisions. I swear this was a thing.
While there may be no hope for women’s 135 (Julianna Peña vs. Raquel Pennington for the vacant title when?), 205 has been sooooo close to being great again. However, injuries to stars Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill led to a calamitous series of events that have left the light heavyweight title in limbo, and though it should find a home soon when Prochazka fights Alex Pereira for a vacant strap at UFC 295 next month, would anyone be shocked if more craziness ensued?
That was certainly the case this past Saturday when Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker met in a pivotal bout that was sure to crown the next challenger for the aforementioned title, but it just couldn’t be that easy. No, the fighters had to deal with a restless ringside physician who was compelled to interject himself into not one, but two fights in Abu Dhabi. In Walker’s case, he saw his night end unceremoniously when the doctor ruled that he was unable to continue after taking an illegal knee from Ankalaev despite Walker’s protests.
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Blame the doctor all you want, but it just feels like this division has been cursed since Prochazka vacated the title last November after suffering a shoulder injury. We’re all praying that his fight with Pereira has a conclusive result, but at this point I’m expecting them to land simultaneous spinning head kicks and both to end up flat on the canvas.
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Check out the complete October rankings update below.
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Ciryl Gane def. No. 10 Serghei Spivac, No. 8 Alexander Volkov def. No. 7 Tai Tuivasa
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic (UFC 295, Nov. 11), No. 6 Jailton Almeida vs. No. 14 Derrick Lewis (UFC Sao Paulo, Nov. 4)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Phil De Fries (5), Alexandr Romanov (2)
(Heavyweight rankings updated Nov. 12 after UFC 295.)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Magomed Anklaev vs. No. 9 Johnny Walker ends in no-contest, No. 12 Anthony Smith def. No. 13 Ryan Spann, No. 15 Volkan Oezdemir def. Bogdan Guskov
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Jiri Prochazka vs. No. 5 Alex Pereira (UFC 295, Nov. 11)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Rob Wilkinson (2), Azamat Murzakanov (1), Khalil Rountree (1), Thiago Santos (1)
(Light heavyweight rankings updated Nov. 12 after UFC 295.)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 9 Sean Strickland def. No. 1 Israel Adesanya, No. 5 Johnny Eblen def. No. 14 Fabian Edwards, Khamzat Chimaev def. No. 2 WW Kamaru Usman
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 11 Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig (UFC Vegas 82, Nov. 18)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Paul Craig (3), Nassourdine Imavov (3), Ikram Aliskerov (1), Kelvin Gastelum (1), Jack Hermansson (1), Bo Nickal (1), Kamaru Usman (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): Khamzat Chimaev def. No. 2 Kamaru Usman (middleweight bout), No. 13 Jack Della Maddalena def. No. 15 (tied) Kevin Holland
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington (UFC 296, Dec. 16), No. 4 Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. No. 7 Stephen Thompson (UFC 296, Dec. 16), No. 5 (tied) Yaroslav Amosov vs. No. 15 Jason Jackson (Bellator 301, Nov. 17), No. 8 Sean Brady vs. Kelvin Gastelum (UFC Austin, Dec. 2), No. 10 Vicente Luque vs. No. 11 Ian Machado Garry (UFC 296, Dec. 16)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Sadibou Sy (4), Andrey Koreshkov (1), Neil Magny (1), Magomed Magomedkerimov (1), Michael Page (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Islam Makhachev def. No. 1 FW Alexander Volkanovski, No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov def. Brent Primus, No. 8 Mateusz Gamrot def. No. 7 Rafael Fiziev, Bobby Green def. No. 11 Grant Dawson
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 12 Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Clay Collard (PFL 10: 2023 Championships, Nov. 24), No. 13 (tied) A.J. McKee vs. Sidney Outlaw (Bellator 301, Nov. 24)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Benoit Saint-Denis (4), Grant Dawson (3), Renato Moicano (3), Drew Dober (2), Matt Frevola (2), Alexander Shabliy (2)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): Islam Makhachev def. No. 1 Alexander Volkanovski (lightweight bout), No. 2 Max Holloway def. No. 11 (tied) “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung 26), No. 11 (tied) Giga Chikadze def. Alex Caceres, No. 13 Bryce Mitchell def. No. 15 Dan Ige
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 8 Josh Emmett vs. No. 11 Giga Chikdaze (UFC 296, Dec. 16)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Edson Barboza (3), Lerone Murphy (2), Adam Borics (1), Jonathan Pearce (1), Chihiro Suzuki (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): N/A
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 5 Patchy Mix vs. No. 6 Sergio Pettis (Bellator 301, Nov. 17), No. 10 Rob Font vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (UFC Austin, Dec. 2), No. 13 Raufeon Stots vs. Danny Sabatello (Bellator 301, Nov. 17)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Pedro Munhoz (3), Magomed Magomedov (2), Ricky Simon (2), Juan Archuleta (1), Chris Gutierrez (1)
(Bantamweight rankings updated Nov. 18 after Bellator 301.)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 11 Manel Kape def. Felipe dos Santos, No. 13 Muhammad Mokaev def. No. 14 (tied) Tim Elliott
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 2 Alexandre Pantoja vs. No. 8 Brandon Royval (UFC 296, Dec. 16), No. 4 Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Rob Font vs. (bantamweight bout) (UFC Austin, Dec. 2)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Azamat Kerefov (3), Kairat Akhmetov (2), Azat Maksum (1), Jeff Molina (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): Nora Cornolle def. No. 15 Joselyne Edwards
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 Irene Aldana vs. No. 7 Karol Rosa (UFC 296, Dec. 16), No. 11 Miesha Tate vs. Julia Avila (UFC Austin, Dec. 2), No. 13 (tied) Lucie Pudilova vs. Ailin Perez (UFC Vegas 82, Nov. 18)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Tainara Lisboa (5), Serena DeJesus (1), Claire Guthrie (1), Olga Rubin (1), Taneisha Tennant (1), Darya Zheleznyakova (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Alexa Grasso vs. No. 2 Valentina Shevchenko ends in a split draw, No. 3 Erin Blanchfield def. No. 4 Taila Santos, No. 5 Manon Fiorot def. No. 5 SW Rose Namajunas, No. 6 Liz Carmouche def. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, No. 14 Viviane Araujo def. No. 10 Jennifer Maia
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 12 Juliana Velasquez vs. Paula Cristina (Bellator 301, Nov. 17), No. 13 (tied) Amanda Ribas vs. Luana Pinheiro (strawweight bout) (UFC Vegas 82, Nov. 18)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Casey O’Neill (6), Karine Silva (2)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): 5 WFLW Manon Fiorot def. No. 5 Rose Namajunas (flyweight bout), No. 10 Marina Rodriguez def. Michelle Waterson-Gomez, No. 15 (tied) Loopy Godinez def. Elise Reed, No. 15 (tied) Xiong Jing Nan def. Nat Jaroonsak (special rules striking match)
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 5 Jessica Andrade vs. No. 9 Mackenzie Dern (UFC 295, Nov. 11), No. 12 Angela Hill vs. Denise Gomes (UFC Sao Paulo, Nov. 4), No. 13 Tabatha Ricci vs. No. 14 Loopy Godinez (UFC 295, Nov. 11), Amanda Ribas vs. No. 15 Luana Pinheiro (UFC Vegas 82, Nov. 18)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Karolina Kowalkiewicz (3), Emily Ducote (2), Xiong Jingnan (2), Gillian Robertson (2), Michelle Waterson-Gomez (2)
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