UFC 275 sees return to Singapore

Quitano @quitano Tue, Apr 19 2022

UFC fans in Singapore have been blessed by the news that the franchise will be returning to the country in June with the 275th edition of its showcase event. Several elite-level fights have already been confirmed for UFC 275, including the headline fight between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka for the light heavyweight title. There is little between these two fighters according to UFC odds provided by OddsChecker, so it’s sure to be a close contest with both fighters known for their toughness and perseverance. Valentina Shevchenko vs Taila Santos is the other title bout on the event card, which is also set to feature entertaining fights such as Robert Whittaker vs Marvin Vettori, Brendan Allen vs Jacob Malkoun, and Kyung Ho Kang vs Saimon Oliveira.

Previous Memorable Singapore Events

Singapore has a long illustrious history of hosting entertaining UFC events, such as 2014’s fight between Tarec Saffiedine and Hyun Gyu Lim, which was the headline fight of the show. Saffiedine was impressive in the early stages of his UFC debut, but Lim dug deep to stage an impressive comeback in the later rounds. Lim’s efforts came too late to change the minds of the judges, however, who awarded the bout to Saffiedine by unanimous decision.

The 2017 clash between Colby Covington and Dong Hyun Kim was another memorable Singapore UFC fight, which featured one of the most iconic grappling performances fans have ever seen. Covington dominated all three rounds almost exclusively with wrestling moves and stormed to victory by unanimous decision. While it wasn’t necessarily the most entertaining match, it is one that Covington fans remember as the moment he showed that he was here to stay.

Main Fight Previews

Teixeira vs Prochazka/b>

The night’s headline fight between Teixeira and Prochazka was originally scheduled to be part of May’s UFC 274 event, but it was moved to UFC 275 seemingly to give it the spotlight it deserves. Teixeira is the reigning light heavyweight champion after he beat Jan Blachowicz by submission at October’s UFC 267, so he goes into the fight as the slight favourite. He has a respectable record of 33 wins and 7 losses, but this won’t intimidate his opponent, Prochazka. The Czech contender is a skilled mixed martial artist who made his UFC debut in 2020 after dominating the GCF championships in his homeland and the Rizin series in Japan. He hasn’t lost since 2016, so he’s not expected to go down without a fight.

Shevchenko vs Santos

The event’s other title fight on the night will be contested by Valentina Shevchenko and Taila Santos for the Women’s Flyweight Championship. Shevchenko has been the champion at this weight since defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231 in 2018 and she has successfully defended her belt 6 times since then. Her last defence, against Lauren Murphy in September, ended in a dominant victory as she showered her opponent with punches and elbows, but Santos is expected to provide a sterner test. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist has only lost one of the 20 MMA fights in her career, which was by split decision. She also won the Performance of the Night award for her last fight, against Joanne Wood, which ended with a first-round submission.

Whittaker vs Vettori

Robert Whittaker vs Marvin Vettori is another fight that is attracting a lot of attention, despite not being for any championship belt. Whittaker is hoping to bounce back from his unanimous decision loss to UFC superstar Israel Adesanya. It was his second loss to “The Last Stylebender”, but Whittaker will take encouragement from the fact he was able to at least go the distance this time after being knocked out in the first fight. Vettori has also lost twice to Adesanya, with the most recent fight taking place at UFC 263 in June of last year. He returned to form in his next fight with a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa, which earned him the Performance of the Night award. Vettori is currently third in the UFC middleweight rankings, while Whittaker is currently sitting outside the top 10, so anything but a Vettori win would be considered an upset.

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