Zuffa Boxing is back for their ninth show tonight, featuring the company debuts of Edgar Berlanga and Richardson Hitchins in separate bouts.

Berlanga will face Canada’s Steven Butler in the de facto main event of the evening, with Hitchins taking on Ricardo Salas in Hitchins’ move to the welterweight division. The main card will also feature a middleweight matchup between 23-year-old prospect Jalil Hackett and faded but still tough 40-year-old veteran Sergiy Derevyanchenko, which could wind up the most interesting fight of the evening.

We’ll be here with live, fight-by-fight results and analysis in the post, and a live chat and scoring down in the comments section. Join us!

Zuffa Boxing 09 live results and reactions

Edgar Berlanga def. Steven Butler by TKO in Round 7

Like the Hitchins debut, pretty predictable, well-chosen Zuffa debut for Berlanga (24-2, 19 KO), who was dropped in Round 2 but came back to put Butler down in Round 6, and that was after Berlanga had fully taken control of the fight, too. The stoppage came when Butler (38-6, 32 KO) ate a couple clean shots in the 7th round, and the referee stepped in.

That’s when it got real good and Berlanga-y, as he mimed threatening to punch Butler, who had been inadvertently dragged down to the canvas by the referee. Butler was pulled down by the referee and in no position to defend himself, but Edgar just has those things in his head, we’ve seen that sort of stuff before.

I did think Edgar looked pretty good here, for what you should reasonably want to see from him. Butler caught him, but Butler can legitimately punch and comes to fight. Berlanga’s knockdown was nice and well-built, he didn’t rush trying to force it, he knew he had Butler hurt and he looked for the opening with some patience. Yeah, Berlanga got dropped, and no, I don’t think he’s really improving as a fighter. But he is what he is, and in the right matchups, he can be good TV. This was an entertaining fight with an enthusiastic crowd.

Richardson Hitchins def. Ricardo Salas by Unanimous Decision

Official Scores: 100-90 from all three judges for Hitchins
BLH Unofficial Score: 100-90 for Hitchins

Hitchins (21-0, 8 KO) makes his Zuffa debut and his 147 debut with the expected ease. The former 140 lb titleholder got the shutout here, totally dominated, none of this was a surprise. Salas (24-3-2, 18 KO) is just not near his level, not close to a world class fighter.

Speaking of, Hitchins still hasn’t really faced a truly threatening opponent as a pro, other than Gustavo Lemos, and he struggled in that one. And his win over Liam Paro was solid, certainly, but you get what I mean. Or you don’t, I don’t know. Anyways, you can see that the guy can box, but he’s 28 years old and he has never shown that special level you see from someone like Shakur Stevenson, as an active example of this “type” of fighter who does have special levels. Shakur’s 29 and has won world titles in four divisions and faced significantly stiffer opposition along the way. Talking about this because there’s not much to say about the fight. It went as we knew it would. It wasn’t very interesting. But Hitchins did look big and strong at 147, the weight itself is not going to be a problem for him. He wasn’t a puncher at 140 and won’t be at 147, but he’s moved up nicely, physically.

Jalil Hackett def. Sergiy Derevyanchenko by Unanimous Decision

Official Scores: 96-94, 97-93, 98-92 for Hackett
BLH Unofficial Score: 97-93 for Hackett

As this wore on, the 40-year-old Derevyanchenko was clearly 40 years old. Hackett, 23, was just consistently a little better, but he had to work for it, because Sergiy is faded and clearly past his better days, where he had some frustrating losses at top level, but he can still fight, and he’s still very willing.

Hackett’s youth and stamina won this as much as anything, but don’t discount that he hung tough when tested, ate some good shots — you’d rather he not take any, I suppose, but that’s not in the cards for most fighters —

Hackett is now 13-1 (9 KO) following his middleweight debut, and Derevyanchenko falls to 16-7 (11 KO). He might be the best 16-7 boxer I’ll ever see.

Vladyslav Sirenko def. Otto Wallin by KO in Round 10

Nasty knockout at the very end of the 10th and final round. Wallin (28-4, 16 KO) ate a right hand off the temple and was going down, and a left hook came in just after. Wallin was down for quite a bit, and they did bring out the stretcher to be safe, but he was sat up and responding a bit.

But it was a big knockout. Wasn’t the greatest fight, but Sirenko (23-1, 20 KO) gets a solid win that will raise his stock a bit, and if nothing else gets him another good look from Zuffa.

How to watch Zuffa Boxing 09

Start time: 8:00 pm ET (Main Card) / 5:00 pm ET (Prelims)

Location: Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden – New York, NY, USA

Zuffa Boxing 09 full lineup and running order

Edgar Berlanga vs Steven Butler, super middleweights, 10 roundsRichardson Hitchins vs Ricardo Salas, welterweights, 10 roundsJalil Hackett vs Sergiy Derevyanchenko, middleweights, 10 roundsOtto Wallin vs Vladyslav Sirenko, heavyweights, 10 rounds