UFC 275 Start Time, Who Is Fighting Tonight!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the pay-per-view (PPV) market later TONIGHT (Sat., June 11, 2022) to present a championship doubleheader at UFC 275 from Singapore. In the main event, Glover Teixeira attempts to successfully defend his Light Heavyweight title for the first time when he takes on Jiri Prochazka. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko returns to put her women’s Flyweight title on the line against Taila Santos.

What’s Hot:

After 10 years of competing inside the Octagon, Teixeira finally made it to the top of the mountain, submitting Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267 to win the 205-pound title. It was “Hands of Stone’s” second attempt at winning UFC gold, coming up short against Jon Jones in 2014. Seven years is a huge gap between title fights, but that is a testament to Teixiera’s longevity and willingness to never give up. And, oh, by the way, he did all of this at the age of 42. Now, by normal standards, you are not a fossil at age 42, but in the fight game, winning a world championship at that age is astounding since it is a sport filled with younger, stronger and faster sharks. But, Teixeira has withstood the test of time and is now eyeing his first-ever successful title defense.

His first challenge will come against one of those sharks in the form of 29-year-old Prochazka. While it may have taken awhile for Teixeira to earn his two title fights, Prochazka managed to do it after just back-to-back knockout wins over Dominick Reyes and Volkan Oezdemir. But, before he made his UFC debut, Prochazka had already tasted championship glory because he came in as the reigning RIZIN 205-pound champion. To further strengthen his case, Jiri came into the Octagon with 10 straight wins, nine via knockout. That — coupled with his explosive first two wins — was good enough to shoot him up the rankings and into a title fight.

Naturally, Prochazka will have the speed advantage here, and he will also have a slight edge in height and reach. But, what he won’t have is the experience advantage. There isn’t anything Glover hasn’t seen throughout his 20-year combat career, so it’s not like Prochazka will throw anything at him that will catch him off guard. That said, I just don’t see Teixeira walking away with his title here. While he does pack amazing power in his hands himself, Teixeira will be just a tad bit slower to the draw than Prochazka, who will eventually tag the champion with a few bombs, ending his chances of having a title defense under his belt.

What’s Not:

There really isn’t much to complain about here. It’s a well-balanced card, featuring two title fights that are sure to deliver. The only gripe from the majority of the mixed martial arts (MMA) community is that the rematch between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili will only be three rounds. And since the first encounter left everyone wanting more, fight fans were a bit disappointed at the fact that this can only go for 15 minutes, assuming neither gets the finish. That said, we can’t expect a repeat performance of the first fight, but it should still be a good one.

Original Card Vs. Actual Card:

Saimon Olivieira was set to face off against Kang Kyung-Ho at this event before he withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Stepping in to fill the void is Danaa Batgerel, who is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Chris Gutierrez.

Injuries:

The card was originally set to feature a Middleweight collision between Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vetorri, but the bout was postponed after “The Reaper” suffered an undisclosed injury. The fight was eventually re-booked to go down at the upcoming UFC Paris event on Sept. 3, 2022. Also, Orion Cosce and Mike Mathetha were set to tango on this card before Mathetha was forced to bow out with an injury.

New Blood:

Maheshate brings his six-fight win streak to the Octagon for the first time to face off against Steve Garcia. He turned professional in 2019, and after initially stumbling out of the gates in his debut, he has looked spectacular ever since. earning three knockouts wins and three via decision. The Contender Series alum will face a two-fight UFC veteran in Garcia, who is coming off an impressive second round knockout win over Charlie Ontiveros in Oct. 2021.

How The ‘Prelims’ Look:

Headlining the undercard will be a Featherweight bout between Seungwoo Choi and Josh Culibao. Choi had his three-fight win streak snapped b Alex Caceres in his last outing, while Culibao is coming off a big win over Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. Both 145-pound contenders are scratching and crawling their way up the ranks early in their respective UFC careers, so everyone win is crucial in their quest.

In the Middleweight division, Brendan Allen will look to make it two in a row when he takes on Jacob Malkoun. Allen started his UFC career off strong with three straight wins, but has gone 3-2 since slowing his momentum a bit. He is coming off a submission win over Sam Alvey so he does have a bit of momentum coming in. Malkoun, on the other hand, is on a two-fight win streak, bouncing back nicely after he lost his UFC debut against Phil Hawes.

In Welterweight action, Andre Fialho will take on Jake Matthews in one of the better fights on the undercard. After coming up short against Michel Pereira in his UFC debut, Fialho has managed to win two straight against Miguel Baeza and Cameron VanCamp. The Portuguese-born fighter has a tough task on his hands this time around against Matthews, who is hungry for a win after his three-fight win streak was snapped by Sean Brady. In further women’s Strawweight action, Nia Lang will attempt to bounce back when she takes on Silvana Gomez Juarez. Making her UFC debut over a year ago, Lang came up short against Ariane Carnelossi, her first loss in three years. As for Juarez, she has seen better days because she has lost two straight inside the Octagon, which isn’t the best way to kick off a career with UFC. Another loss could signal the end of her UFC journey.

Kicking off the event is a women’s Bantamweight bout between Joselyn Edwards and Ramona Pascual. Edwards is currently on a two-fight losing streak after she made an impressive UFC debut by defeating longtime veteran Yanan Wu. She hopes to avoid a third straight defeat against Pascual, who is eyeing her first win with the promotion after throwing up a dud in her short-notice UFC debut earlier this year against Josiane Nunes.

Interest Level: 8/10

It’s a great card that not only includes two championship fights but an intriguing rematch between two former women’s Strawweight champions in Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili. The two initially threw down at UFC 248 in a memorable five-round title fight. In the end, Weili was able to retain her belt after earning the split-decision, leaving Jedrzejczyk sporting a huge hematoma the likes of which we’ve never seen (see it here). Since then, Weili went on to lose her belt to Rose Namajunas, and then failed to win it back in the rematch. As for Jedrzejczyk, she has been idle since the first epic bout, and now she’s on the hunt for revenge and another title fight.

Will we have a mirror-like performance of the first epic battle? Probably not. That said, the two ladies will get after it because both are in desperate need of a win to not only get back in the win column but back into the championship picture.

Kicking off the main card will be a Welterweight fight between Jack Della Maddalena and Ramazan Emeev. Since making the jump to UFC, Emeev — the former M-1 Global Middleweight champion has racked up an impressive 5-2 record. He is coming off a tough split-decision loss to Danny Roberts, so getting back into the winner’s circle is of the utmost importance here. Maddalena, meanwhile, is bringing an impressive 11-fight win streak with him to the Octagon after making an impressive debut at UFC 270, knocking out Pete Rodriguez in the first round.

Enjoy the fights!

Full UFC 275 Fight Card:

UFC 275 PPV Main Event on ESPN+ PPV:

205 lbs.: UFC Light Heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka

UFC 275 PPV Co-Main Event on ESPN+ PPV:

125 lbs.: UFC Women’s Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko vs. Taila Santos

UFC 275 PPV Main Card On ESPN+ PPV (10 p.m. ET):

115 lbs.: Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Zhang Weili
170 lbs.: Andre Fialho vs. Jake Matthews
170 lbs.: Jack Della Maddalena vs. Ramazan Emeev

UFC 275 ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN2/ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):

145 lbs.: Seungwoo Choi vs. Josh Culibao
185 lbs.: Brendan Allen vs. Jacob Malkoun
145 lbs.: Steve Garcia vs. Hayisaer Maheshate
135 lbs.: Danaa Batgerel vs. Kyung Ho Kang

UFC 275 ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):

115 lbs.: Silvana Gomez Juarez vs. Na Liang
135 lbs.: Joselyne Edwards vs. Ramona Pascual

*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 275 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

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