UFC 275: Previewing Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka and the Rest of the Card

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UFC 275 goes down in Kallang, Singapore, on June 11. It’ll be the Las Vegas-based promotion’s first pay-per-view in southeast Asia, and it has put together a pretty solid card to celebrate the occasion.

Headlining honors will go to a light heavyweight title fight between the division’s champion, Glover Teixeira, and challenger Jiri Prochazka. And that won’t be the only title on the line, as flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko is slated to defend her strap against surging contender Taila Santos in the co-main event.

UFC 275 packs plenty of punch beyond the two title fights that top the bill. Earlier on the main card, fans will be treated to a rematch between former strawweight champs Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, whose first fight was arguably the best in the promotion’s history.

Elsewhere on the bill, we’ll get appearances from a nice blend of prospects, contenders, and veterans alike.
Keep scrolling for a preview of the most interesting fights on the bill.

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Glover Teixeira is the oldest fighter on the UFC roster at 42 years old. He is also the promotion’s light heavyweight champion, having choked out Jan Blachowicz to win the belt late last year.

It’s been incredible to watch him achieve so much success so late in his career, but his fairy tale could take a very ugly twist in the UFC 275 main event.

The Brazilian is set to defend his title against former Rizin Fighting Federation champion Jiri Prochazka, who is not only well over a decade his junior at 29 but also one of the most devastating knockout artists in MMA today.

The Czech striker has scored a ridiculous 25 of his 28 victories by knockout. That includes a pair of highlight-reel stoppages over former title challengers Dominick Reyes and Volkan Oezdemir in his first two UFC bouts, and wins over notable names like CB Dollaway, Fabio Maldonado, Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal, Brandon Halsey and Kazuyuki Fujita in the Rizin ring. He is dangerous as fighters come.

The reality is that Prochazka will likely subject Teixeira to a vicious knockout loss at UFC 275. The champion is an excellent fighter, but he’s been knocked out before, and his Czech challenger is arguably the most dangerous striker he’s faced to date.

If there’s one thing that Teixeira proved by winning the title at 42 years old, however, he can never be counted out—no matter how stark the challenge.

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Valentina Shevchenko is one of the most dominant champions in the UFC, having defended the women’s flyweight belt six times since she won it with a decision win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2018.

Her division is currently overrun with fresh young contenders, many of whom look like they could give her a run for her money—Erin Blanchfield, Casey O’Neill and Alexa Grasso are among them. However, Taila Santos is next, and she might be the toughest of the bunch.

The Brazilian has been beaten just once in 20 fights, and the bulk of her wins have been very impressive. She has finished 10 contests by knockout, three by submission, and beaten the likes of Joanne Wood and Roxanne Modafferi, two of the most experienced fighters in the division. She is better than many women Shevchenko has beaten and has as good a chance of dethroning the champion as anyone.

But let’s not beat around the bush. Shevchenko is the best female fighter in the world right now, and unless she starts slowing down, nobody is touching her.

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The first time Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk met in the Octagon, we got the greatest strawweight fight of all time, one of the best women’s bouts ever, and possibly the best in history, regardless of division. It was an all-out slugfest that didn’t wane for 25 action-packed minutes.

Zhang, who held the promotion’s strawweight title at the time, ultimately won the fight by split decision, dashing Jedrzejczyk’s dreams of reclaiming the belt for herself. But the duel was as close as they come, and the grounds for a rematch have existed ever since.

For whatever reason, the UFC refrained from booking the rematch right away, opting instead to book Zhang against Rose Namajunas. Namajunas, as most fans know, knocked Zhang out to win the title and then beat the Chinese star by split decision in an immediate rematch to defend it.

That left Zhang without a belt and in perfect position for a rematch with Jedrzejczyk, who has been out of action since the first time they met, having made a valiant and ultimately successful push for a better contract. 

If the pair’s UFC 275 rematch is even a fraction as good as their first fight, we’re in for a real treat. And no matter how the fight unfolds, the winner will likely be at the front of the line for a crack at reigning strawweight champion Carla Esparza, who scored the title with a split decision win over Namajunas last month.

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Manel Kape (17-4) vs. Rogerio Bontorin (16-4)

Former Rizin bantamweight champion Manel Kape got off to a rough start in the UFC. After a star-making knockout win over Kai Asakura in Japan, he debuted in the American organization with a pair of decision losses to Alexandre Pantoja and Matheus Nicolau. Had he lost a third fight in a row, he may have been sent packing.

But Kape has turned things around in style, scoring a pair of knockout wins over Ode Osbourne and Zhalgas Zhumagulov. Those wins earned him the No. 14 spot in the UFC flyweight rankings and set him up for a fight with No. 8-ranked flyweight contender Rogerio Bontorin.

Bontorin has been inconsistent lately, winning just one of his last four fights. But the Brazilian is a tough out for any flyweight out there, Kape included. It’s a great match-up, and the winner will be a win or two away from a title shot.

              

Jake Matthews (17-5) vs. Andre Fialho (16-4)

Portuguese welterweight Andre Fialho is riding back-to-back first-round knockout wins over Miguel Baeza and Cameron VanCamp. After the latter win, he called for the opportunity to fight at UFC 275 in Singapore, and after his recent victories, the UFC matchmakers were happy to give him what he wanted.

He is now set to fight Australia’s Jake Matthews on the event’s undercard. Outside of a fight with Brazil’s Michel Pereira in his UFC debut, it is probably the toughest test of Fialho’s career.

The Aussie has beaten the likes of Li Jingliang, Emil Meek and Diego Sanchez, and will either be the fighter to derail Fialho’s momentum or the one he beats to burst into the welterweight rankings.