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The newly minted UFC champion got a hero’s homecoming in Brno, Czechia.

Jiri Prochazka may not yet be a household name for the American MMA market, but it certainly appears he’s got a strong fanbase back in his home country. The 29-year-old captured UFC gold in just his third trip to the Octagon this past Saturday, at UFC 275, when he defeated champion Glover Teixeira via 5th round submission.

That victory marks the fastest rise to the UFC’s light heavyweight title since ‘Rampage’ Jackson won the belt in 2007—the same year he made his UFC debut. Frank Shamrock is the only other man to do it quicker, winning a title in his first fight with the promotion at UFC Japan.

Prochazka celebrated his remarkable success in front of a massive crowd of cheering fans, back in his hometown of Brno, Czechia.

If ‘Denisa’ can whip up that kind of consistent support in his home country, the UFC may just have to make a return to the Czech Republic sometime in the near future.

The world’s largest MMA promotion made their first, and only, trip to the nation back in 2019 with a ‘Fight Night’ card headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Jan Blachowicz and Thiago Santos. That card drew a respectable 16,000+ fans to the O2 Arena in Prague. Hopefully the UFC can make their way back to the country soon with a title fight on the line.

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An in-depth look at the scoring of the co-main event of UFC 275

There was some grumbling about the scoring of the co-main event of UFC 275. In that fight, UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko retained her title with a split-decision win over Taila Santos.

On the official front, judge Howard Hughes had it 48-47 for Shevchenko. Clemens Werner saw it even more in favor of the champ with a 49-46 score. As for the dissenting judge, David Lethaby gave it to Santos with a score of 48-47.

MMA media were split as well. The majority of the media who provided scores to MMA Decisions saw it 48-47 for the champ. The next largest group had Santos winning by a score of 48-47 while a handful of media scores were in favor of Shevchenko winning 49-46.

With the questions about the scoring of the fight, it’s time for another “Scouring the Scoring” feature, which is a deep dive into a particular fight.

For background on the “Scouring the Scoring” series and details on the review process, GO HERE.

The first thing one needs to do in scoring a fight is mute the commentary. Biases can seep into commentary and even worse, the UFC commentary team often provides incorrect information as to the scoring criteria, which can influence those who hear it (more on that later). The second thing one needs to do is get familiar with the prioritized criteria in MMA scoring — especially the first criteria, which is “effective striking/grappling.”

Effective Striking/Grappling

“Legal blows that have immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute towards the end of the match with the IMMEDIATE weighing in more heavily than the cumulative impact. Successful execution of takedowns, submission attempts, reversals and the achievement of advantageous positions that produce immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute to the end of the match, with the IMMEDIATE weighing more heavily than the cumulative impact.”

It shall be noted that a successful takedown is not merely a changing of position, but the establishment of an attack from the use of the takedown.

Round 1:

The scoring of the first five minutes of the fight was difficult. Shevchenko had the more effective striking. She landed a counter right at the 34 second mark of the first stanza and then scored with a knee to Santos’ head while the two were in the clinch against the fence. Outside of those two blows, Shevchenko’s striking was not a threat, according to the scoring criteria, to immediately “contribute towards the end of the match.”

With that, the next thing to assess was the grappling of Santos. A failed takedown from Shevchenko led to a scramble. In that scramble, Santos took the back of her opponent and secured a body lock. She then looked for neck cranks and chokes from that position. While Santos did not threaten to end the fight with a prolonged attack in this position, at one point she briefly locked up a choke.

In scoring this round, I wouldn’t say a nod toward Shevchenko was a robbery, but I think Santos’ effective grappling outweighed the effective striking of the champion. I based my scoring for Santos on this line in the criteria, “Successful execution of takedowns, submission attempts, reversals and the achievement of advantageous positions that produce immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute to the end of the match.”

Round 1: Taila Santos 10-9

Round 2:

The fighters spent the majority of this round on the mat and while Santos was in top position for a prolonged period, she did not employ effective grappling.

Santos literally did nothing with her ground control time. She never tried to advance or improve her position. She did not seek to pass the guard of her opponent. She did not attempt to posture up and land significant strikes from top position. Any offense that was generated on the ground was from Shevchenko, who looked to improve her position, secure a submission and generate (cumulative) damage through strikes from her back.

What stood out for me in this round was that referee Jason Herzog stood the fighters up with 90 seconds left in the round. That told me that Herzog did not see Santos looking to generate any offense from the top position and that she was happy to sit in the guard of her opponent and let the clock tick away. In other words, Santos was stalling.

After the standup, a Shevchenko throw led to a scramble where Santos was again able to take top position — which was effective grappling — but again, with 43 seconds left in the round she was on top and in Shevchenko’s guard and again, she did not try to improver her position during that time.

Shevchenko had the more effective grappling and striking in this round.

Round 2: Shevchenko 10-9

Round 3

Shevchenko landed a nice counter right to the head 21 seconds into this round, but outside of that, most of the significant strikes from both fighters were leg kicks and neither fighter had an advantage there.

The difference in this round came in the final 1:48 of the stanza. That was when Santos scored a takedown and then, during a grappling exchange, get both hooks in. Shevchenko then sat out. When she did that, which happened against the fence, Santos was able to threaten with a rear-naked choke and also apply a body lock.

I scored this one for Santos for her ability to improve her position on the ground and threaten with a choke.

Round 3: Santos 10-9

Round 4

This round went to Shevchenko via effective striking. The late takedown Santos scored near the end of the round did nothing to change the scoring of this stanza.

Round 4: Shevchenko 10-9

Round 5

No controversy in this round, another one for Shevchenko.

Round 5: Shevchenko 10-9

Final score: 48-47 for Shevchenko

One thing I need to mention about this fight was the clash of heads in the third round. We later found out that Santos will need to undergo surgery to repair the broken orbital that accidental impact left her with. The doctor did not even check the injury during the fight even though he was asked to do so by referee Herzog. Hopefully the UFC will not use that cageside physician again, because he failed to do his job on Saturday.

UFC 275 took place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on Saturday, June 11. The main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

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Mookie Alexander & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, June 11th, UFC 275: ‘Glover Teixeira vs. Jiří Procházka’ PPV event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Bloody Elbow fight expert, Mookie Alexander is here, joined by Zane’s usual co-hort, Eddie Mercado. We recorded for you on Saturday, June 11th, 2022, with a breakdown of the UFC 275: ‘Teixeira vs. Jiří Procházka’ now 11-bout PPV event; which was simulcast in English & Spanish on ESPN+/ESPN from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, in Kallang, Singapore.

June M. Williams

The guys have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or they can be caught on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel or any of our BE Presents Podcast Network.

The UFC showcased a World Championship Doubleheader this weekend at their UFC 275 PPV event.

The first title fight in our Main Event was a collision between reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Glover Teixeira (33-7) and the undefeated contender, Jiří Procházka (28-3):

Teixeira, the Brazilian American, fighting out of Bethel, Connecticut, entered the Octagon with a historic 33-7 career record. While holding the distinction of being the second oldest UFC Champion in history, behind Randy Couture, as well as being the oldest first time Champ. He secured the LHW title in a battle against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267, last October, 2021, making this his first title defense.

‘Denisa’, fighting out of the Czech Republic, is a former Rizin FF LHW Champ and was the inaugural Czech GCF LHW Champ as well. He faced this title fight with a 28-3 professional record, although this would be his third fight in the UFC. His win streak includes, Volkan Oezdemir in his UFC debut at UFC 251 in July, 2020, followed by a victory over Dominick Reyes at UFC Vegas 25 in the headlining bout of the event, which led him to this title fight. A whirlwind ride to the top of the promotion at the age of 29.

In our second title fight of the night, we will had the battle for the Flyweight Championship:

Reigning champion, “Bullet’ Valentina Shevchenko, holding an 22-3 record, fighting out of Kyrgyzstan, with the distinction of being the longest reigning champ in the UFC having won her title back at UFC 231 in December of 2018. The southpaw’s specialties are in Muay Thai and Kickboxing, with a strength in striking.

Meanwhile, the #4 ranked contender, Taila Santos, was holding an impressive 18-2 record, fighting out of Brazil. She holds a blue belt in BJJ with a strength in grappling. Having started training at the age of sixteen under her Dad, who is a Muay Thai coach. She put in a season on the DWCS (Dana White Contender Series – Brazil 2), defeating Estefani Almeida to win her UFC contract. She’s coming off an entertaining POTN bout against Joanne Wood last November, 2021; among other impressive performances. Ten of her victories have been via knockout, three via subs and six via decisions.

Also on the PPV card, we had the big rematch that was two years in the making:

Strawweights ‘Magnum’ Zhang Weili (21-3) vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk (16-4) going to war in what was sure to be a barn burner, since neither of these ladies know how to put on a boring fight. We had Zhang, the former UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion, the first Chinese champ, who is also the former Kunlun Fight (KLF) Strawweight Champion. She fights out of Beijing, China. Out of her 21 wins, she’s had ten knockouts, seven submissions and four decisions heading into the Octagon for UFC 275: Zhang vs Joanna 2.

Then there was the returning Polish Muay Thai/Kickboxer, former UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion, Joanna, who has also competed in the flyweight division, with one submission finish and four knockout finishes under her belt out of her eight year UFC record. She has not fought since the first time these two met in the Octagon at UFC 248: Adesanya vs Romero in March of 2020, where she was defeated via a Split Decision loss.

For all the results, reactions and much more detail on the main card, and plenty of tidbits about all the prelims, be sure to hit play on the show to hear what our fight experts, Mookie and Eddie, have to say!

Overall, this now 11-bout card saw three exciting first round finishes, five thrilling KO/TKO’s, one sweet submission, and five hard-fought decisions; two split. Rounding things out, our fighters who were awarded for putting forth BONUS efforts included: FOTN, Teixeira vs Procházka. POTN to every finisher: Matthews, Gomez Juarez, Maheshate, Zhang & Della Maddalena…

ESPN+

Here’s a look at the UFC 275: ‘TEIXEIRA VS PROCHÁZKA’ fight card with full results & updated fight records —

Official UFC Scorecards

ESPN+ PPV CARD | SAT. JUNE 11 — 10/7PM ETPT
11. UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Jiří Procházka (29-3) DEF. Glover Teixeira (33-8) — via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:32 of the fifth round; FOTN

10. UFC Flyweight Championship: Valentina Shevchenko (23-3) DEF. Taila Santos (19-2) — via controversial split decision (48-47, 49-46, 47-48)

9. The Rematch: Zhang Weili (22-3) POTN DEF. Joanna Jędrzejczyk (16-5) — via knockout at 2:28 of the second round; Joanna Retires

8. 170lbs: Jake Matthews (18-5) POTN DEF. Andre Fialho (16-5) — via TKO (strikes) at 2:32 of the first round

7. 170lbs: Jack Della Maddalena (12-2) POTN DEF. Ramazan Emeev (20-6) — via TKO (strikes) at 2:32 of the first round

ESPN2 PRELIMS | 8/5PM ETPT

6. 145lbs: Joshua Culibao (10-1) DEF. Seung Woo Choi (10-5) — via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

5. 155lbs: Hayisaer Maheshate (7-1) POTN DEF. Steve Garcia (12-5) — via knockout at 1:14 of the first round

4. 185lbs: Brendan Allen (19-5) DEF. Jacob Malkoun (6-2) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

3. 135lbs: Kyung Ho Kang (18-9) DEF. Batgerel Danaa (12-4) — via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 7/4PM ETPT

2. 115lbs: Silvana Gómez Juárez POTN (11-4) DEF. Na Liang (19-6) — via knockout at 1:22 of the first round

1. 135lbs: Joselyne Edwards (11-4) DEF. Ramona Pascual (6-4) — via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Check back here this weekend for our video production of the show, with all new enhanced graphics to accompany the guys’ commentary, on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel right here:

At that time, timestamps will have been edited into this post for your listening convenience.

Be sure to follow Mookie – @MookieAlexander & Eddie – @TheEddieMercado; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings.

If you enjoy our shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music – For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels.

Join us again for another episode of ‘6th Round’ next week, on Saturday, June 18th, for UFC AUSTIN: ‘KATTAR VS EMMETT‘!

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Check out the fight card for UFC Austin, which takes place on June 18th in Texas.

The UFC is heading to Austin, Texas on June 18th, and I think the fans will be more than satisfied with the main event. Featherweight contenders Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett headline this Fight Night card, with major title implications at stake for both. In the co-main event, fan favorites Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon square off in a rescheduled bout from UFC 274.

Also a part of this main card is a welterweight bout between Kevin Holland and Tim Means. A fight that may be a Fight of the Night contender pits middleweights Julian Marquez and Gregory Rodrigues against one another.

Here’s the full UFC Austin lineup:

Main Card (7 PM ET, ESPN/ESPN+)

Calvin Kattar vs. Josh Emmett

Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon

Kevin Holland vs. Tim Means

Joaquin Buckley vs. Albert Duraev

Damir Ismagulov vs. Guram Kutateladze

Julian Marquez vs. Gregory Rodrigues

Preliminary Card (4 PM ET, ESPNNews/ESPN+)

Adrian Yanez vs. Tony Kelley

Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Natália Silva

Court McGee vs. Jeremiah Wells

Ricardo Ramos vs. Danny Chavez

Maria Oliveira vs. Gloria de Paula

Eddie Wineland vs. Cody Stamann

Phil Hawes vs. Deron Winn

Roman Dolidze vs. Kyle Daukaus

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The UFC is going to Salt Lake City in August.

The UFC welterweight title will be on the line in Salt Lake City on August 20th.

During Saturday’s UFC 275 broadcast, the promotion announced that reigning champion Kamaru Usman will rematch Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 278 at Vivint Arena in Utah. It’s only the second event ever held in Utah and the first pay-per-view.

Usman (20-1) has five successful title defenses under his belt, including his decision win over Colby Covington in their UFC 268 rematch. He’s beaten Covington twice, Jorge Masvidal twice, and Gilbert Burns over the past three years. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ also holds a decision win over Edwards from way back in December 2015.

Edwards (19-3, 1 NC) hasn’t lost since that Usman bout, winning nine of his last ten and going to an unfortunate no contest with Belal Muhammad. ‘Rocky’ hasn’t fought since his five-round decision over Nate Diaz last June, which the Brit was comfortably winning before Diaz hurt him late in the final round. Edwards’ best wins at welterweight include Donald Cerrone, Rafael dos Anjos, Vicente Luque, and Gunnar Nelson.

No other fights were announced for UFC 278, but it’s expected that Luke Rockhold vs. Paulo Costa will be a part of this card.

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Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko reveals sustaining a foot injury heading into her UFC 275 title fight with Taila Santos.

It may have taken five grueling rounds and a few moments in danger, but Valentina Shevchenko got the job done. For the seventh consecutive time, “Bullet” successfully defended the UFC women’s 125-pound title, this time against Taila Santos via split decision.

Normally, Shevchenko would do her trademark victory dance after the Octagon interviews, but this time she didn’t. One reporter took notice and asked her about it during her post-fight scrum, and apparently, there is quite a serious reason behind it.

“Coming into the fight, I was injured. My foot was injured. And all week, fight week, the UFC Performance Institute physical therapist was working on my foot to get it back into the best shape,” she told reporters.

“A few kicks that I (threw) that were super strong, it injured my foot. That’s why I kind of, like… I was willing to dance, but I don’t know. We will have to do x-ray, I hope it’s nothing serious that could delay my return to the Octagon. But this is the reason why I didn’t dance.”

Shevchenko didn’t specify what foot was injured. But she says she never considered pulling out of the fight, even during moments when she was left unable to walk.

“Considering to pull out of the fight, never. Every time when I have something, I try to deal with it first. Actually, I couldn’t walk on my foot when I got this injury, and I couldn’t jump on it,” she said.

“But thankfully to the PTs, they were able to get me back that I kind of, like, felt OK. And definitely, when you’re in the fight with all this adrenaline, you just kick, no matter what. You kick and then you think what’s gonna happen.”

Shevchenko says she will still help her sister Antonina prepare for her July 9th fight against Cortney Casey. After UFC 275, she improved to a record of 23-3.

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See how the judges scored the main event fight between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka.

UFC 275’s headliner between light heavyweights Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka did not disappoint. It was a full showcase of mixed martial arts for nearly five rounds, until “The Czech Samurai” scored a submission win in the final 28 seconds of the fight.

But if Teixeira managed to survive that last round, he would’ve retained the UFC undisputed 205-pound belt, as you’ll see in the scorecards below.

Even if all three gave the final round to Prochazka with a 10-9 tally, judge Michael Bell would have it 48-47 for Jiri. Judge Ben Cartlidge would have it 48-47 for Teixeira while judge Clemens Werner would have a 48-48 tally.

That would then result in a split draw and the Brazilian retaining the title. But as it was proven on Saturday night, this is a crazy sport where absolutely anything can happen.

Prochazka, the newly-minted champion, has now extended his UFC win streak to three as he improves to a record of 29-3-1. Teixeira, meanwhile, broke a six-fight win streak as he dropped to a win-loss slate of 33-8. Both men will take home a $ 50K bonus for Fight of the Night.

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Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and play-by-play as UFC 275 from Singapore.

Today’s show will feature two title fights and an epic rematch on top. In the headliner, Glover Teixeira will defend his light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka. The co-main will see women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko making her seventh title defense, meeting Taila Santos. If that wasn’t enough, former strawweight champions Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Weili Zhang will face off once again.

This post will cover the preliminary portion of the card. The featured bout of the prelims will see Seung Woo Choi face off with Joshua Culibao in a featherweight matchup.

Today’s show is a standard PPV. There are two early preliminary card fights, which should kick off around 7pm ET/4pm PT. Those will air on ESPN+ and Fight Pass. Things will stay on ESPN+ and move big ESPN for four more fights at 8pm ET/5pm PT, and then we’ll go over to ESPN+ PPV at 10pm ET/7pm PT as per the norm.

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Check out the sixth episode of Embedded for UFC 275.

UFC 275 is almost here, and as usual, Embedded is here as well. The show that gives you an inside look at the marquee contestants on PPVs has issued the sixth and final episode for this weekend’s big show in Singapore, and it serves as a brief introduction to the fighters at the top of the card.

As usual it seems, we start things off with Jiri Prochazka. He says the time for war is near. He feels ready to go. He passes Glover Teixeira on the way out and they exchange some words. Jovially. Glover gets a workout in to continue the weight-cutting process.

Weili Zhang is cutting now. She doesn’t like the sauna, so they bag her up and work her out instead. Now a team jog.

Prochazka goes to the arena to watch a Road to the UFC event. He says it’s good to know where you’re fighting because it helps with preparation.

Weigh-ins time. They skip the real weigh-in and go straight to the ceremonial one for this Embedded series. Joanna Jedrzejczk talks to the camera before she comes out. 116. Weili gets big cheers. 116 as well. Intense but respectful staredown. Joanna asks her if she wants to win fight of the night again. Weili says yes, okay.

Taila Santos is 125. Valentina Shevchenko gets a big ovation. She’s 124.5. Again, intense but respectful. Shevchenko says it doesn’t matter who it is, she will break them.

Prochazka next. 205 on the dot. Glover is 205 too, and everything is official.

Let’s go! UFC 275 goes down in a few short hours in Singapore.

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Get the bare essentials on the championship fights of UFC 275, topped by ageless wonder Glover Teixeira looking for success in his first title defense against the explosive Jiri Prochazka.

While most would agree Glover Teixeira and Valentina Shevchenko generate some of the lowest levels of buzz amongst the reigning champions, I don’t think anyone is going to argue putting them on the same card creates a strong enough one-two punch to justify them at the top of a PPV. However, upon closer inspection from my end, I ended up growing more excited about UFC 275. In terms of straight physical gifts, Taila Santos appears to be the most difficult challenge for Shevchenko during her reign and how often are we going to continue to doubt Glover Teixeira? I understand why Jiri Prochazka is the favorite, but wasn’t Teixeira the underdog in his previous three contests as well? Hell, the three fights previous that were basically pick ‘em odds. Teixeira got his hand raised each of the last six times. I’m not proclaiming the event will be on the level of an MSG PPV, but it sure as hell pulls its weight.

For the early prelims preview, click here. For the televised prelims, click here. For the rest of the main card, click here. For an audio preview of the event, click here.

Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka, Light Heavyweight

I already stated that I understand why Prochazka is the favorite. Being the younger competitor doesn’t always give a fighter an advantage, but Teixeira is 42. Prochazka hasn’t even cracked 30 yet. Prochazka is also longer, faster, and even appears to have the edge in power. I get that many will say Teixeira hits plenty hard himself, but the champion only has one official knock down in the last six years. Prochazka has already doubled that in his two UFC contests. I think it’s safe to say with the loss of speed that tends to come with the aging process, Teixeira has also lost some of his power that used to be the most prodigious element of his attack.

Teixeira was never the fastest guy to begin with, so his lack of speed has never been more apparent. And yet, here he is, the oldest first-time champion in UFC history. Why is the champion continually being disrespected the way he has been on the way to the title?

A lot of it has to do with favorable matchups for the Brazilian. That isn’t intended to be a knock on Teixeira; everyone who has ever grabbed the belt has had lucky bounces go their way as you don’t win the title without that. But prior to beginning his current winning streak, Teixeira was losing on a consistent basis to fighters who have been able to outwrestle him. Even during this streak, he struggled against fighters with a wrestling background in Ion Cutelaba and Nikita Krylov. Teixeira struggled to get both of them down, needing a stoppage when it looked like he was on his way to lose to Cutelaba and eeking out a split over Krylov. Everyone else in that run has been considered an average defensive wrestler at best. Prochazka’s takedown defense isn’t porous, but it sure is a question mark at this level.

However, an argument could also be made that Teixeira has struggled against lanky, athletic strikers as well. Alexander Gustafsson had his way with Teixeira and that was five years ago. Surely, a slower version of Teixeira than we saw on that day is going to be easier pickings for someone like Prochazka? After all, Prochazka is a fantastic athlete with a deep striking arsenal that can land his offense out of nowhere. And while I point out that Teixeira has only one knockdown in the last six years, he’s been knocked down himself five times in that same span. At first glance, it feels like it’s elementary that Prochazka lands some sort of flying or spinning attack and dethrones the aged champion.

However, Prochazka’s creativity doesn’t lend itself to sustained success. Remember Johnny Walker’s first few UFC contests? He was blowing the doors off his opponents. Then a calm and collected Corey Anderson reversed the tables on him and Walker has been a shell of himself since. Volkan Oezdemir didn’t give Prochazka the respect he deserved coming into the UFC. Dominick Reyes opted to give Prochazka the type of fight he likes, meaning one of the two was going to go out at some point. Teixeira isn’t going to give Prochazka the fight he wants. Plus, while Teixeira has been knocked down plenty over the last few years, only two of those fights saw him get finished. Teixeira is still a tough guy to put away. And while Prochazka has faced some decent wrestlers in his time, none of them have possessed the grappling skills of Teixeira. If Teixeira gets some decent top control, I’m not so sure Prochazka can stop Teixeira from pounding him out or submitting him. Even if Teixeira doesn’t finish the fight with the first takedown, he has a tendency to suck out the life from his opponents so they’re ripe to be finished later on. Or should I say, bust up their teeth….

I admit, the easy pick is to go with Prochazka. From the moment this fight was rumored, that was my pick. But the more I look into it, the more I lean towards Teixeira. He’s constantly been disrespected all the way to the title and he’s fought like he has something to prove all the way. It kind of reminds me of Jan Blachowicz’s road to the title. And while Blachowicz only got one successful title defense in there, he was also the underdog in that lone successful title defense… just like Teixeira is. Despite being the champion, Teixeira is the one who has to prove something. Perhaps Prochazka exposes the simplicity of Teixeira’s striking – he throws the same combination over and over – and turns his lights out in a hurry. But it also took Prochazka until the second round to put away Oezdemir and Reyes. Teixeira is a different beast on the ground than anyone Prochazka has faced and the native of the Czech Republic feels ripe to be exposed. The confidence in my pick is low – as any pick in a competitive contest should be – but I’m going with the old man to keep his improbable run going for at least one more fight. Teixeira via submission of RD2

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Taila Santos, Women’s Flyweight

It’s easy to forget Shevchenko is the longest reigning UFC champion. She doesn’t get the same adoration of some of the UFC’s longer reigning champions have received such as Anderson Silva and GSP. Hell, she didn’t get the same level of attention Amanda Nunes got… and Nunes didn’t get the attention she deserved when she reigned at bantamweight! Shevchenko is more akin to Demetrious Johnson. Much like Johnson, what has been holding Shevchenko back is the lack of a true rival.

If Santos is to fulfill that role, she’s got to have a lot go right for her. To be fair to Santos, she has the talent to do that. In fact, there’s a very strong argument to be made that Santos is the most physically gifted opponent Shevchenko has faced amidst her reign as champion. Possessing more than her share of power, Santos hasn’t been securing the highlight reel that would be expected from her thanks to her preference for ensuring her strikes land as opposed to them being thrown with full force. Despite that, her power has been showing itself more and more, securing knockdowns in her last couple of fights, those against the most proven competition in her career.

However, despite possessing that level of power, it has been the grappling that Santos has utilized most prominently on her road to a shot at the title. The Brazilian controlled several ground-based competitors on her way, including the ever-so-savvy Roxanne Modafferi. Of course, her Santos’ detractors would also point out that Santos was able to do that without having the cleanest of wrestling, having a strong reliance on being the better athlete against all of her opponents. Would she be able to do that against Shevchenko?

Not a chance. Shevchenko has been bullied in the past, but that’s also been against much larger opponents from when Shevchenko was doing the damn thing at 135. In fact, Shevchenko took Jessica Andrade down at will in their contest. Andrade may be on the small side for flyweight, but she is one of the pound-for-pound strongest women on the roster. The only other woman who has taken Shevchenko down at 125 is Jennifer Maia… and Shevchenko took her down far more than Maia did her. Shevchenko’s trips are perhaps her most overlooked feature.

While Shevchenko’s trips are overlooked, it doesn’t mean they are her best feature. That would be her distance management. There may not be anyone who better understands spacing better than Shevchenko. Despite being significantly shorter of reach than Holly Holm, she was able to outbox the former boxing champion. That may have been six years ago, but Shevchenko only seems to have improved since that time. Plus, it’s not like she’s limited to her punches. Though primarily known as a counter striker, Shevchenko can lead the dance if she really wants to. Just ask Lauren Murphy… though I admit that finishing flurry did start with a counter.

What Santos may be able to do is blitz the champ early. After all, Shevchenko tends to start slow as she sits back and looks for reads in the first round or so. There’s a reason none of her UFC finishes have come in the first round. Maybe Santos catches her off-guard before she has made her reads. After all, Juliana Pena caught Amanda Nunes off-guard and we got a new champion, right? While I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong on that fight, there are some signs I should have seen that I only caught with hindsight. Nunes had been talking about retirement for quite a while heading into that fight. She also had started her family not that long ago. For Shevchenko, there’s no talk of retirement and fighting still remains her primary focus. I’ve been impressed with Santos’ progress since she dropped her UFC debut, but I fear she’s getting this shot a little too soon. Perhaps she drops this fight, learns from it, and claws her way back to a rematch in which she claims the title from Shevchenko, but I don’t see her doing it here. Not only does Shevchenko remain the champion, she remains the most fundamentally sound fighter on the roster. Shevchenko via decision

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