For the first time ever the UFC will be landing in Singapore and oh man did they bring some heavy artillery for this card! There will be two Championship fights this weekend along with one of the most anticipated rematches of all time. The main event features a scary, and possibly the most dangerous up and coming Light Heavyweight on the planet in Czech Republic's Jiri Prochazka. Jiri will look to dethrone the oldest Champion in the UFC currently and also the oldest champion ever in UFC history (42), Glover Teixeira. We also get to witness greatness at its best with another title defense opportunity for Valentina Shevchenko. This weekend Valentina can inch closer to more UFC legendary status by defending her belt for the seventh consecutive time putting herself in a class that only two people ever have been able to accomplish (Jose Aldo, Jon Jones). What seems to be an additional co-main event is the return of Joanna Jedrzejczyk as she looks for revenge against Zhang Weili. Jedrzejczyk will be competing in the Octagon for the first time in over two years and Zhang will be looking for her first win inside the Octagon since she was able to defeat Jedrzejczyk after dropping back to back Championship fights against Rose Namajunas. With both woman hungry and ready to make a statement this should once again be a fight we won't soon forget!
For the main event we see the Light Heavyweight Championship on the line as we have a young lion looking to take over as the new king of the division and this will fore sure be a clash of styles. As I watch tape of Jiri Prochazka both inside the UFC and overseas the one thing about his game that remains consistent is he is one of the most technically savvy strikers I have ever seen. He is constantly looking to move forward and pressure his opponents forcing them to fight off their back foot or up against the fence, but wherever the fight takes place Jiri is usually the one who is dictating the pace. When Jiri finally decided to make the move to the UFC after many victories overseas he also found immediate success inside the octagon. After only two fights in the UFC Jiri has found himself already with a title shot this weekend and he is primed and ready to takeover!
It has been over a year since we last saw Jiri compete but he made a bold statement with his last performance. The most impressive part of Jiri's previous bout with Dominic Reyes was that even though Reyes is a counter-striker and likes to wait for his opponent to dive in and then he would try to take advantage in those wild exchanges, Reyes looked overwhelmed. This strategy for Dominic had worked in the past but with Jiri every strike he threw was with great precision and was highly calculated. Instead of being able to counter-strike Jiri, Reyes was left defending the entire time leaving him exposed in some of the exchanges which inevitably lead to one of the greatest spinning back-elbows of all time (if not the greatest). So here we are, only two fights into his UFC career and he looks to take down one of the most grizzly veterans in UFC history, Glover Teixeira.
Glover Teixeira even at the age of 42 years old is a bad man. He was put through hell and back just to have an opportunity to fight in the UFC after years of struggling to secure a green card, but ever since he touched down in the United States back in 2012 he has been a problem for the Light-Heavyweight division. He has fought a ridiculous total of twenty-one times inside the Octagon racking up an impressive 16-5 record. Glover has truly seen it all and may be one of the most battle-tested fighters on the UFC's roster. He has tremendous power with both his left and right hand and he may be the strongest Light-Heavyweight in the division. You do not want to get into a clinch exchange with Glover up against the fence.
Back in October of last year Glover was finally able to secure the Light-Heavyweight title when he was able to defeat Jan Blachowicz. What was most impressive about this victory was the true display of mixed martial arts. The fight between Glover and Blachowicz was a dominant display of power, and lethal jiu-jitsu. In the first round we saw both the two go through a feeling out process which lead to Glover being able to land a beautiful takedown and holding Jan on his back with ease for the remainder of the round. The second round we saw why Glover deserves to be a Champion as he was able to put his power on display with a ruthless left hook that wobbled Jan followed up with another takedown. After securing his second takedown we were able to see his jiu-jitsu as he immediately was able to get onto Jan's back and eventually choke him out. The one thing you can't deny about Glover is his well-rounded skills, and those skills finally paid off in Abu Dhabi last year.
With Jiri looking to take Glover's spot as top dog, lets see who Vegas favors! MONEYLINE:
Jiri Prochazka (-200) / Glover Teixeira (+170)
TOTAL ROUNDS:
Over 2.5 (+125) / Under 2.5 (-160) It's amazing to me that someone with almost ten times the experience and who is also the current champion is +170, but at the same time it doesn't. Like I stated previously, Jiri's standup may be the best in the Division, so seeing him favored is understandable. But with that being said, when I think about how this will play out I see it going one of two ways. The first is Jiri is able to catch Glover and once again will gain another highlight for his growing reel, or Glover can possibly expose Jiri and bring him to his world on the mat. We have never seen Jiri in a grappling match nor have we seen him ever be taken to the ground, so with that much unknown about his grappling ability I am hesitant to trust him at a -200 favorite. If I had to choose I would lean Jiri Prochazka (-200) but this moneyline something I will not be betting on. As for me I will be placing my bet on Under 2.5 (-160). If Jiri is able to land a hard strike on Glover and take him out it's a win, and if Glover is able to secure a submission or even possibly land his own strike it's still a win. I do not see anyway that these two men will clash for longer than twelve and a half minutes without someone finding a finish! As for the rest of the card we have multiple fights that have plenty of potential to make some money, below are my top bets for the entire UFC 275 card! TOP BETS FOR THIS CARD:
PARLAY OPPURTUNITY:
Brendan Allen (-300) + Seung Woo Choi (-200)
Odds Combined: +115
Zhang Weili / Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Zhang Weili -160
Na Liang / Silva Gomez Juarez
Na Liang +120 Kyung Ho Khang / Batgerel Danaa Will The Fight Go The Distance: No -110
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