There’s a lot of buzz surrounding UFC 275 next week. Two UFC championship belts will be on the line as Glover Teixeira makes the first title defense of his newly won UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against former Rizin Light Heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka, and Valentina Shevchenko will defend her UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship for the seventh time when she faces Taila Santos. Former UFC Women’s Strawweight champions Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk will be in action too.
Dana White will take UFC 275 to the other side of the world. This PPV event will be held at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on Saturday, June 11, 2022. Interestingly, the start time will be the same as if it was held in the Western Hemisphere, as the preliminary card is slated to start at 8 p.m. ET, and the main event will get underway at 10 p.m. ET.
Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka
We saw 42-year-old Glover Teixeira win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267. It was an incredible victory for Teixeira, as the 20-year veteran of MMA had never won a UFC belt before, but he isn’t expected to keep the strap for long because of his age. Although Teixeira has now won six straight fights, many observers believe that challenger Jiri Prochazka will emerge victorious in the main event.
Prochazka has not lost a fight in over six years, and that defeat came in an old school grand prix event where fighters took on multiple opponents on the same night. He was dominant in Rizin, claiming the light heavyweight title by avenging that previous loss against Muhammed Luwal before joining the UFC in the summer of 2020. The challenger has recorded two extremely impressive knockouts that resulted in bonuses since signing on, and he has knocked out 10 straight opponents within three rounds ahead of his first UFC title shot.
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Taila Santos
Since joining the UFC in 2015, Valentina Shevchenko has only lost to Amanda Nunes. Shevchenko is 11-0 in her other UFC fights, and she has held the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship since winning a unanimous decision against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231. She has been dominant in all six of her title defenses, finishing four of her opponents.
This is a big challenge for Taila Santos. She has won four straight fights coming into her first title opportunity in the UFC. However, she has yet to fight an elite opponent in the UFC, much less an S-Tier foe like Shevchenko. Five of her six UFC bouts have gone the distance, but this is the first time that Santos has been asked to go five rounds.
Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
The winner of this fight will likely receive the opportunity to take on Carla Esparza for the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship in the winter. Joanna Jedrzejczyk held this belt for longer than any other fighter in history after defeating Carla Esparza by knockout at UFC 185. Jedrzejczyk successfully defended the belt five times in a title reign that lasted nearly 1,000 days before losing to Rose Namajunas at UFC 217.
Zhang Weili stunned Jessica Andrade in Shenzhen three years ago to win this title. Weili successfully defended the belt against Jedrzejczyk in one of the best fights in the history of MMA before losing the strap and the subsequent rematch with Namajunas.
This is the first time that Jedrzejczyk has been in the Octagon since she faced Weili, and many fans are expecting this rematch to deliver in a big way. If Jedrzejczyk doesn’t show any rust, this could be a Fight of the Year candidate.