Two of the UFC’s champions will look to defend their belts at UFC 275 in Singapore this weekend.
Current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Glover Teixeira (33-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) will face Jiri Prochazka (28-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in his first title defense.
UFC Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko (22-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) will take on her newest challenger in Talia Santos (19-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).
UFC 275 Main Event: Teixeira vs Prochazka
Teixeira is a longtime UFC veteran who won the championship last October against Jan Blachowicz with a second-round submission at UFC 267.
Teixeria, 42, is the oldest first-time champion in UFC history. He has been with the promotion since 2012. He has fought professionally since 2002.
During his UFC career, he has stacked up notable wins against Thiago Santos, Anthony Smith, Rampage Jackson, Ryan Bader and Rashad Evans.
Prochazka has torn a short but violent path to a title shot with brutal knockouts over Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes. The 29-year-old fighter from the Czech Republic was the inaugural Rizin Light Heavyweight Champion.
He also has notable finishes over Muhammad Lawal, Karl Albrektsson, C.B. Dolloway and current Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Vadim Nemkov.
While Prochazka has dangerous muay thai knees and elbows, Teixeira is dangerous on the ground. Prochazka has knocked out 25 of his opponents and submitted two and Teixeria has submitted 10 and knocked out 18 of his own.
The matchup is super intriguing. Can Teixeria protect his belt and bring the speeding train that is Prochazka to a sudden crash or will Prochazka continue to go full steam ahead and end up with the belt? We will know soon enough.
Glover Teixeira | Jiri Prochazka |
|
---|---|---|
42 | Age | 29 |
6'2'' | Height | 6'3'' |
205 lbs | Weight | 205 lbs |
76 inches | Reach | 80 inches |
Jan Blachowicz: W (Sub.) | Last 5 | Dominick Reyes: W (KO) |
Thiago Santos: W (Sub.) | Volkan Oezdemir: W (KO) | |
Anthony Smith: W (TKO) | C.B. Dollaway: W (KO) | |
Nikita Krylov: W (Dec.) | Fabio Maldonado: W (KO) | |
Ion Cutelaba: W (Sub.) | Muhammed Lawal: W (TKO) |
Co-Main Event: Shevchenko vs. Santos
As if the one title fight isn’t enough, the pound-for-pound No. 1 women’s fighter attempts to extend her number of title defenses to seven.
Shevchenko has seemed nearly unstoppable in her last eight fights. The champ has five finishes since 2018.
Her eight-fight win streak includes wins over Jessica Andrade, Lauren Murphy, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Katlyn Chookagian and current Bellator Flyweight Champion Liz Carmouche.
Her last loss was against current Featherweight Champion and former Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes by split decision back in 2017.
But Santos will attempt to keep the number of Shevchenko’s title defenses to six.
Since losing her UFC debut to Mara Romero Borella by split decision in early 2019, Santos has strung together a four-fight win streak. She has wins over Molly McCann, Gillian Robertson, Roxanne Modafferi and Joanne Wood. Three of those four victories were decisions.
The matchup is one for the strikers. Both fighters have strong muai thai and kickboxing and usually stay on their feet. However, both women are also comfortable on the ground if the fight goes that way.
Valentina Shevchenko | Talia Santos |
|
---|---|---|
34 | Age | 28 |
5'5'' | Height | 5'6'' |
125 lbs | Weight | 125 lbs |
66.5 inches | Reach | 68 inches |
Lauren Murphy: W (TKO) | Last 5 | Joanne Wood: W (Sub.) |
Jessica Andrade: W (TKO) | Roxanne Modafferi: W (Dec.) | |
Jennifer Maia: W (Dec.) | Gillian Robertson: W (Dec.) | |
Katlyn Chookagian: W (TKO) | Molly McCann: W (Dec.) | |
Liz Carmouche: W (Dec.) | Mara Romero Borella: L (Dec.) |
UFC 275: Full fight card and betting odds
Singapore is 13 hours ahead of Central Daylight Time, so the UFC fighters are squaring off at some pretty odd hours. The early prelims begin at 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday in Southeast Asia. The main card will begin at 10 in the morning to accommodate the North American audience.
No need for an alarm clock in the US. Here’s a look at the Saturday night schedule and UFC odds in Iowa:
Main Card (9 p.m. on ESPN Plus PPV)
- Light Heavyweight: Glover Teixeira (+170) vs Jiri Prochazka (-200)
- Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko (-630) vs Talia Santos (+450)
- Strawweight: Zhang Weili (-155) vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk (+135)
- Flyweight: Rogerio Bontorin (+180) vs Manel Kape (-220)
- Welterweight: Jack Della Maddalena (-150) vs Ramazan Emeev (+130)
Prelims (7 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN+)
- Featherweight: Seungwoo Cho (-235) vs Josh Culibao (+190)
- Middleweight: Brendan Allen (-280) vs Jacob Malkoun (+225)
- Lightweight: Maheshate vs Steve Garcia
- Welterweight: Andre Fialho (-135) vs Jake Matthews (+115)
Early Prelims (5:30 p.m. on UFC Fight Pass)
- Bantamweight: Kyung Ho Kang vs Batgerel Danaa
- Strawweight: Liang Na (+130) vs Silvana Juarez (-150)
- Featherweight: Romona Pascual (+145) vs Joselyne Edwards (-165)