UFC 275 delivers perhaps the greatest PPV of the year so far
For the first time in nearly three years, the UFC made its return to Singapore, where Glover Teixeira put his championship on the line against Jiří Procházka, the first time since gaining the Light Heavyweight title back in October 2021, in an outstanding back and forth battle between the two elites, whilst Shevchenko put her title on the line against the streaking Brazilian Taila Santos. We saw the hotly anticipated rematch of Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Weili Zhang, and elsewhere, new contenders shined. Let's have a look at what happened.
WOMEN PUT IT ALL ON THE LINE
Kicking off the early prelims, Panama's Joselyne Edwards endured a gruelling fifteen minutes and a slow start against Hong Kong's Ramona Pascual to turn in a convincing decision in the eyes of the judges. After spending the majority of the first round on the receiving end of some heavy kicks and takedowns from Pascual, Joselyne adjusted and was able to defend takedowns and outpointed Pascual for the remainder of the fight.
Silvana Gomez Suarez, coming off the back of two successive armbar losses, was potentially fighting for her contract in the UFC against China's Na Liang, a formidable grappler with a penchant for armbars. Any concerns about Suarez were allayed quickly, as her vaunted knock out power was quickly on show, flatlining Liang just over a minute into the first round. Suarez is clearly a powerhouse in the women's Strawweight division, if she can put together a string of performances like she did today, the division may have a new contender to keep an eye on.
PRELIMS SET THE STAGE
The prelims were not devoid of action, with South Korea's Kang Kyung-Ho immediately going to war against Danaa Batgerel. Both fighters landed increasingly heavy leg kicks throughout the fight, with Danaa's power punching prowess eventually wilting to the lightning fast speed of Kyung-Ho. The back and forth fight somehow went to the judges, with both fighters having their moments, but Kang proved he was the better man on the night, bagging a unanimous 29-28 decision across the scorecards.
The Bantamweights were quickly followed up by a war of attrition between Brendan Allen and Jacob Malkoun, with Brendan's ground game being heavily tested by the wrestling heavy Jacob Malkoun. Allen's ability to manouvre out of troubling positions on the bottom ended up being the deciding factor. Turning bottom position into top heavy ground control, Allen landed twice as many significant ground strikes against the fatiguing Malkoun, who wilted towards the end to concede his second loss in the UFC.
DEVASTATING KNOCKOUT
China's debuting Maheshate came into his fight against USA's Steve Garcia as an underdog, who was coming into the fight on the back of a frightening knockout in his last fight against Charlie Onteveros. The bookmaker's were proven wrong very quickly, with Maheshate landing heavy punches immediately, knocking Garcia down quickly in the first round. The relentless pressure continued, and after Garcia returned to his feet his raw aggression ended up being his demise, being caught on the wrong end of a devastating counter hook and face planting into the canvas to be out cold. Maheshate's UFC career couldn't have gotten off to a better start, and he will no doubt be one to keep an eye on in future fights.
CHOI AND CULIBAO GO TO WAR
The feature prelim of the night was without a doubt a huge feature - Australia's Joshua Culibao turning the doubters away with a phenomental performance, scoring knockdowns against Seung-Woo Choi in both one and two, and battering him in the process. The fight could have been stopped in multiple moments, but Choi dug deep to stick it out, albeit severely compromised. Culibao's waning stamina almost proved costly, with Choi nearly wrapping up a rear naked choke late in the third. His late rally proved futile however, as Culibao's defense stood up and lasted until the final bell to secure the victory.
MAIN CARD KNOCKOUTS GALORE
The main event of UFC 275 at Singapore Indoor Stadium got off to an insanely quick start, with Australia coming up trumps in both Jack Della Maddalena and Jake Matthews' fights. Maddalena saw some adversity early on, almost succumbing to a head and arm choke before escaping back to the feet and lighting Dagestan's Ramazan's Emeev up on the feet. The end was nigh when Jack landed a heavy liver shot, with Emeev slowly falling to the ground, absorbing multiple punches on the way. The referee stepped in, waving the fight off halfway through the first round, taking Maddalena to 2-0 in the UFC with two first round finishes. Expect to see a big step up in competition for the young Aussie in his next fight.
Jake Matthews also did not take long to dispatch Portugal's Andre Fialho. After swarming him with unrelenting aggression for the first round, Jake showed a crispness to his standup that we didn't see in his last fight. Fialho was coming into the fight looking for his third win and third finish in three months, but the repeated short turnaround proved to be a mountain too tall to climb, as immediately from the outside he was unable to keep up with both the pace and power of Jake Matthews. Looking for the counter on the outside that just didn't eventuate, Andre couldn't keep up and was repeatedly wobbled, until his chin eventually faltered and Jake pounded Fialho into the ground. Jake Matthews rebounded from his last loss well to maintain his position on the fringes of UFC's Welterweight rankings.
WEILI SHINES IN ANOTHER CLASSIC, JOANNA RETIRES
The stage was set for a rematch of epic proportions, as Zhang Weili and Joanna Jędrzejczyk rematched in the second edition of the all time classic that was produced between the two back in 2020. Immediately, both fighters brought the action, with an epic back and forth first round picking things up immediately from where they left them. Both women landed extremely heavy shots, with Weili mixing in heavy takedowns on top of her elite level striking to show everyone what she's been working on since her two battles against Rose Namajunas. Weili's ground game was devastating, raining down heavy elbows on the mat to leave Joanna looking frazzled at the end of round one.
Round two began with Weili fired up, and after some back and forths that ended up in the clinch, Weili fired in a lethal spinning back fist to put Joanna out cold on the mat in a phenomenal knockout of the year contender. A stunning show from the former Strawweight contender, the incredible knockout has lined Weili up for another stab at the crown of the division against the queen Carla Esparza.
An emotional Joanna retired at the end of the fight, her impressive career ending at 16-5. Joanna thanked her teammates and coaches, stating she didn't expect the power and strength brough by Weili, and was apologetic for her performance to Dana and the rest of the UFC. Joanna, however, has nothing to apologise for, having graced us with an array of phenomenal performances throughout her career. and a title reign amongst the best of them all. From the Verdict community, we all thank you, Joanna, for an incredible career.
SANTOS BRINGS IT AGAINST THE FLYWEIGHT GREAT
In the co-main event of the evening, many were expecting another showcase performance from the indomitable Valentina Shevchenko. The 19-1 Taila Santos came in to prove the doubters wrong, with the Brazilian looking to show that her four fight win streak was worthy of champion status. Santos immediately brought the fight, with aggressive clinch work and takedown proving to be the decider of round one, and spent the last minute of the first round wrapping the champion up in a body triangle threatening a rear naked choke, and rounding out the round in a dominant position.
Round two and three showed further grappling ability from Santos - her ability to control Shevchenko against the cage surprising many. Shevchenko's offense was starting to show however, and her combinations on the feet landed well. With momentum building for Valentina, Santos landed a critical takedown in the second half of round three and controlled Valentina for long enough to arguably snatch the round out of the grasp of Shevchenko. Santos' confidence was building, as the prospect of a potential UFC belt was now more real than ever before.
Round four saw Valentina fired up like never before, and her elite Muay Thai backround began to show. Lighting Santos up on the feet, Valentina brought the pressure and urgency that was missing in the beginning of the fight. Landing some heavy combinations, Santos' eye began closing up before an inadvertent clash of the heads brought a small pause to the action. Santos looking worse for wear was unabated, and come forth with more relentless offence, however with momentum building for Shevchenko, it looked like the championship rounds were the moment Shevchenko was going to snatch the fight from Santos.
An urgency was needed from Shevchenko, as the fight was very much in the balance. Santos was looking damaged and fatigued, whilst Shevchenko was just getting into her groove. Mixing in some excellent Muay Thai and takedowns, Valentina dominated the round from the beginning to the end, locking down Santos on the mat looking for a crucifix position towards the end of the round to seal the victory. It wasn't to be found however, yet a dominant round in the bag for Shevchenko ended the fight. With the full 25 minutes being needed, Santos proved to be the toughest fight of Valentina's Flyweight career, and she no doubt won the respect and admiration of fans around the world. With the score in the balance, it looked like there may have been a new champion in the Flyweight division for the first time in four years. A split decision saw Shevchenko scrape through though, her championship mentality proving to be enough to carry her to the victory. With Valentina's Flyweight record now at 9-0 and the division seemingly cleaned out, all eyes are on a move up to Bantamweight for Valentina against the winner of the Nunes/Pena rematch.
TEIXERA AND PROCHAZKA GO TO WAR IN FOTY CONTENDER
At 42 years of age, and seemingly towards the end of his career. Glover had experienced a resurgence like no other, capping a six fight win streak off with the UFC Light Heavyweight title in October 2021. His first title defence came against the dynamic power puncher from Czech Republic, Jiří Procházka, in what was expected to be a firefight that was going to be decided quickly. That wasn't to be the case, as Glover and Jiří went to war for nearly five rounds, dropping each other multipli times in a fight that could have ended in any round, with heavy punches, slick grappling exchanges and momentum shifts that made the UFC crowd roar non stop.
In every round, there were moments for both fighters, as Jiří showed electric speed on the feet, whilst Glover used his experience and pedigree to force uncomfortable exchanges. Round one saw Glover land two takedowns and secure mount position with both, raining down heavy punches and elbows on Prochazka, whilst the explosive Czech was able to pop back up and bully Glover in pivotal moments. Glover's ground game proved decisive though, as he came out feeling the better of the two after the first five minutes.
Round two saw a fast start from Jiri, as some quick combos momentarily stunned Glover. The wild Jiri that UFC fans have quickly come to know and love was showing, and his relentless aggression gave a rocked Glover an opportunity to counter with a heavy left and knock Jiri off balance. With Glover quickly jumping on Jiri's back, he managed to get off some more of his relentless ground and pound that worked so well for him in the first round. Towards the end of the round, a hellacious elbow from Glover splits the eyebrow of Jiri, with blood gushing profusely to end the round. What was originally Jiri's round had quickly swung back in Glover's favour.
With two rounds in the bag, Glover was looking good, although he had certainly met his match. A stuffed takedown from Glover was met with a huge strike from the Czech, and now both fighters were bleeding badly. With Glover down on the ground, Jiri waved him up to continue the battle on the feet. The two continued to trade shots back and forth, with every punch landing on both sides looking like it could spell the beginning of the end. One last takedown attempt from Glover is stuffed, resulting in Jiri taking a half guard position and returning the ground and pound that had plagued him so much for the first two rounds. The fight was well and truly on.
Round four was upon us, and both fighters, battered, bruised and bloody were both moving slower. A big right hand from Glover wobbled Jiri, and Glover wrapped up Jiri and took him down. Glover's Jiu Jitsu was starting to come through now, and as they transitioned from position to position, Teixera attempted to wrap up a head and arm choke to no avail. Jiri manages to reverse position, and brings down some more heavy strikes on the champ in an entertaining back and forth that was as even as you could ever hope for in a championship fight. After twenty minutes, both fighters were in it, and you knew that this was going to be a final round for the ages.
The final five minutes began with a warm embrace from both fighters and a roar from the crowd, acknowledging the insanity that we had all just beared witness to. Jiri, now markedly slower than before, was starting to eat some big punches from the champion. Glover wobbled the challenger, before diving in for a body lock and looking for the takedown which he was not able to find. After breaking free, the two fighters exchanged hands again, with Glover once again getting the better of Jiri, wobbling him once more and diving in for another body lock. Whether it was fatigue, or just the fact that he was unaware of how hurt Jiri was, Glover had missed two opportunities to put the final touches on a stellar performance and put Jiri away. Glover finally bullies Jiri to the mat, and looks for a head and arm choke that seemed incredibly tight, that he may have finally pulled off the unlikely. A thumbs up from Jiri to the ref said otherwise, and Jiri exploded off the fence into taking Glover's back before somehow wrapping up the most unlikely rear naked choke and forcing a quick tap from the champion with 28 seconds remaining in the final round. An outrageous ending to what is surely one of the fights of the year, and one of the greatest fights of all time. Jiri by submission was so unlikely that only 1% of the Verdict Community called it - an incredible feat by those who did.
In his post fight interview, after being asked if he would continue fighting by Daniel Cormier, Glover responded by asking if he looked good in the fight. After an emphatic yes by Daniel, an opinion undoubtedly shared by all, Glover said he would continue fighting, a decision we are all looking forward to.
Jiri, the new Light Heavyweight Champion, has now only just begun the next phase of his career, with a whole host of lethal killers lining up to fight him next. Whoever it may be for his first title defence, he will no doubt have his hands full, and the Brazilian with Hands of Stone, Glover Teixera, will always be there, looking over his shoulder.
All in all, tonight was jam packed with non stop action from top to bottom. UFC fans were treated to phenomenal performances from numerous fighters, with not a moment to breath. The level of quality was incredibly high this week, and next week's card headlined by Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett will be looking to follow up with another wild night of fights. Stay tuned for more as we look forward to next week's exciting match ups.
