UFC 275 Main Card Preview: Teixeira vs. Prochazka
This weekend’s UFC 275 event is a showcase of many of the best fighters from around the world. International champions take center stage in the main event and co-main event just moments after a highly-anticipated women’s rematch features on the main card, as well.
UFC 275 takes place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore, and will air live only on
Two fast-rising challengers have been granted a shot at UFC titles this weekend. Jiri Prochazka has earned the right to face Glover Teixeira for a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Taila Santos has managed a decent win-streak in the women’s flyweight division and will now stand across from champion Valentina Shevchenko.
Join us as we preview each of the two title fights and the rematch of a brilliant strawweight clash between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
UFC 275 Main Card Preview
Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka
Glover Teixeira will step back into the cage for the first time since he claimed the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in October last year. Teixeira stopped Jan Blachowcicz by rear-naked choke submission at UFC 267 to capture the title after what was an impressive five-fight winning streak that earned him the title shot. He’s now sitting at the top of the light heavyweight division following wins against Blachowicz, Thiago Santos, Anthony Smith, Nikita Krylov, Ion Cutelaba, and Karl Roberson.
His opponent Jiri Prochazka is a former RIZIN light heavyweight champion and has impressed in his first two fights in the UFC since joining in 2020. In his debut with the promotion, Prochazka knocked out former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir with a punch at UFC 251 to win a ‘Performance of the Night’ award. He backed that win up with another knockout victory, this time against another former title challenger in Dominick Reyes. The spinning back-elbow knockout against Reyes earned yet another ‘Performance of the Night’ award in a fight that also won ‘Fight of the Night’ honors.
Teixeira, the champion, will enter as the betting underdog but that’s nothing unusual for the fighter who has now been an underdog in three consecutive fights. Prochazka earns his right as the favorite on the back of an impressive career not just in the UFC but in RIZIN in which 27 of his 28 career wins have been by way of stoppage.
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Taila Santos
The top women’s pound-for-pound fighter, Valentina Shevchenko, looks basically unstoppable at this point. Since winning the flyweight title in 2018, Shevchenko has defended the title six times and is quickly running out of potential challengers in the division. Most recently, she’s defeated Lauren Murphy, Jessica Andradew, Jennifer Maia, Katlyn Chookagian, and Liz Carmouche.
Taila Santos is the next one up after a four-fight win streak in the promotion that includes wins against Joanne Wood, Roxanne Modafferi, Gillian Robertson, and Molly McCann. Although just one of those fighters is currently ranked at flyweight (Wood: #10), Santos has been impressive for the most part, displaying decent power and a well-rounded skillset.
Understandably, Shevchenko is a significant betting favorite before UFC 275. Santos’ current betting odds are as high as +550 on some sites, meaning that it’d be a monumental upset if she was to dethrone Shevchenko this Saturday night.
Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Over two years have passed since Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s memorable fight at UFC 248. On that night, the two strawweight fighters went back and forth for a full five rounds in what would end up being regarded as the best fight of 2020. Zhang defended the title against the former champion, winning the fight by unanimous decision. It would be the last fight that Zhang has won a fight in the UFC since she was then defeated by Rose Namajunas twice in her next two fights in 2021.
Surprisingly, the original clash also marks the last time that Jedrzejczyk has competed inside the Octagon. The former champion has only been interested in a ‘big fight’ when she returned to the cage and this highly-anticipated rematch certainly ticks all of the right boxes.
Although this fight is packed neatly in the middle of the pay-per-view main card before the two title fights, fans could argue that this is the most highly-anticipated fight this weekend.
UFC 275 Fight Card
Main Card – 10:00 pm ET / 7:00 pm PT (Order ESPN+ PPV)
- Glover Teixeira (C) vs. Jiri Prochazka (#2)
- Valentina Shevchenko (C) vs. Taila Santos (#4)
- Zhang Weili (#2) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (NR)
- Rogerio Bontorin (#8) vs. Manel Kape (#14)
- Jack Della Maddalena vs. Ramazan Emeev
Prelims – 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT on ESPN+
- Brendan Allen vs. Jacob Malkoun
- Seungwoo Choi vs. Josh Culibao
- Maheshate vs. Steve Garcia
- Andre Fialho vs. Jake Matthews
Early Prelims– 6:30 pm ET / 3:30 pm PT on ESPN+
- Kyung Ho Kang vs. Batgerel Danaa
- Liang Na vs. Silvana Juarez
- Ramona Pascual vs. Joselyn Edwards