Once the impressions have settled we can say that behind us is a spectacular evening full of great knockouts, interruptions, reversals, debatable refereeing decisions, and emotional statements in the cage. Jiri Prochazka thus managed to become only the second UFC light heavyweight champion to achieve this in his twenties; before him, only Jon Jones had done it. Valentina Shevchenko defended the flyweight category in a tough fight that many believe should have gone to the other side, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk announced the end of a great career.
Many were unsure whether Jiri Prochazka deserved a chance to attack the title after just two wins within the Octagon, but it turned out that his extensive experience within the Rizin organization was not to be ruled out. Prochazka entered this fight with a score of 28-3-1, and he defeated all his opponents in Rizin. The fight against Glover was full of action, reversals, and attractive moves, and in the end, the Czech took the victory with a break in the last round. The light-heavyweight category has not been so full of potential challengers for a long time, so it will be interesting to see who will be the first to try to take over the freshly earned belt from Jiri.
In the title fight of the evening, Valentina Shevchenko managed with great difficulty to defend the flyweight category against the aggressive Taila Santos by a divided judge’s decision. Although according to many Talia was better in the first three rounds, it often happens that the judges awarded at least one of the first three rounds to the champion as they gave the champion a chance to return to the last two championship rounds. They did the same here, although one judge awarded Shevchenko two of the first three rounds. Valentina has nothing to regret because she did her job, and the judges are the ones who need to judge who is the winner of the duel.
After doing the Fight of the Year in 2020, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili had a big rematch last night in which the Chinese celebrated with a knockout in the second round after a terrible ‘spinning backfist’. After the defeat, Joanna announced her retirement in an emotional speech and symbolically placed her gloves on the floor of the cage.
UFC 275 – results:
Jiri Prochazka def. Glover Teixeira via submission (‘rear-naked choke’) – R5, 4:32 – won the light heavyweight belt
Valentina Shevchenko def. Taila Santos via split judge’s decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46) – defended fly category belt
Zhang Weili def. Joanna Jedrzejczyk via KO (‘spinning backfist’) – R2, 2:28
Jake Matthews def. Andre Fialho via KO (shots) – R2, 2:24
Jack Della Maddalena def. Ramazan Emeev via TKO (blows) – R1, 2:32
Josh Culibao def. Seungwoo Choi via split judge’s decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Hayisaer Maheshate def. Steve Garcia via KO (kick) – R1, 1:14
Brendan Allen def. Jacob Malkoun via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Kyung Ho Kang def. Danaa Batgerel via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Silvana Gomez Juarez def. On Liang via KO (kicks) – R1, 1:22
Joselyne Edwards def. Ramona Pascual via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
