UFC 275 Recap: Jiří Procházka Takes Down Glover Teixeira to Win Light Heavyweight Title
Jiří Procházka won a Hall of Fame fight in the main event of UFC 275, defeating Glover Teixeira to crown himself new light heavyweight champion.
This was a picturesque clash of styles. Procházka’s striking was countered by Teixeira’s jiu-jitsu, and both men reached beyond their depths to produce a bloody, violent fight where it appeared it would end with the judges making the decision.
That was the case until Procházka locked in a rear naked choke in the fifth round. Teixeira tapped with only 28 seconds remaining. Had the round ended, Teixeira would have most likely retained the belt, but he was clearly exhausted in the final stretch. Ironically, if Teixeira had remained on his feet, he could have continued his damage on Procházka. Instead, Procházka won the fight on the mat, an extremely unexpected ending.
While Procházka began his reign as champ, Valentina Shevchenko continued her run.
Shevchenko withstood a physical challenge from Taila Santos, who used her strength and grappling to put a legitimate scare into the champ. The turning point happened in the third round, when an accidental butting of heads left Santos barely able to see out of her right eye by the start of the fourth. Shevchenko immediately attacked the weak spot, and controlling the final two rounds allowed her to retain.
Zhang Weili also knocked out Joanna Jędrzejczyk earlier on the 275 card. The victory puts Weili back into a title bout for the strawweight title, as well as marked the end of Jędrzejczyk’s career. She left her gloves in the Octagon, and announced her retirement after the fight.
UFC 275 was an outrageously compelling card, ultimately serving as the defining moment of Procházka’s career.
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LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT: GLOVER TEIXEIRA (c) VS. JIRÍ PROCHÁZKA -- 12:37 AM ET
Jiří Procházka won a Hall of Fame fight in the main event of UFC 275, defeating Glover Teixeira to crown himself new light heavyweight champion.
This was a picturesque clash of styles. Procházka’s striking was countered by Teixeira’s jiu-jitsu, and both men reached beyond their depths to produce a bloody, violent fight where it appeared it would end with the judges making the decision.
That was the case until Procházka locked in a rear naked choke in the fifth round. Teixeira tapped with only 28 seconds remaining. Had the round ended, Teixeira would have most likely retained the belt, but he was clearly exhausted in the final stretch. Ironically, if Teixeira had remained on his feet, he could have continued his damage on Procházka. Instead, Procházka won the fight on the mat, an extremely unexpected ending.
While Procházka began his reign as champ, Valentina Shevchenko continued her run.
Shevchenko withstood a physical challenge from Taila Santos, who used her strength and grappling to put a legitimate scare into the champ. The turning point happened in the third round, when an accidental butting of heads left Santos barely able to see out of her right eye by the start of the fourth. Shevchenko immediately attacked the weak spot, and controlling the final two rounds allowed her to retain.
Zhang Weili also knocked out Joanna Jędrzejczyk earlier on the 275 card. The victory puts Weili back into a title bout for the strawweight title, as well as marked the end of Jędrzejczyk’s career. She left her gloves in the Octagon, and announced her retirement after the fight.
UFC 275 was an outrageously compelling card, ultimately serving as the defining moment of Procházka’s career.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT: GLOVER TEIXEIRA (c) VS. JIRÍ PROCHÁZKA -- 12:37 AM ET
Jiří Procházka made Glover Teixeira tap out.
In the process, he becomes the new light heavyweight champion.
A streak of 10 straight knockouts ended for Procházka (29–3–1), who instead won the fight with a rear naked choke submission on Teixeira (33–8). In addition to winning the title, Procházka dethroned a man who possesses some of the absolute best jiu-jitsu in all of MMA.
This fight was outrageous. And if it weren’t for the submission victory, which happened with only 28 seconds remaining in the fifth round, Teixeira likely would have won the fight on the scorecards.
Teixeira landed a takedown with a single leg just over a minute into the first round. In an urgency to get back to his feet, Procházka briefly gave up his back, but despite absorbing some punishment, he fought back to his feet. Teixeira then took Procházka down again, setting up in a full mount and took full control. The physicality of Teixeira was overwhelming, until Procházka delivered some vicious ground-and-pound of his own in the final 20 seconds of the round.
Procházka took control in the second round, landing punches in bunches. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Teixeira dropped Procházka with a left hook, and he held Procházka down for the remainder of the round. Teixeira wore him down, taking advantage of the fact that Procházka did not possess the same elite grappling skills. The round ended with Teixeira dominating Procházka on the ground.
This marked only the second time since 2014 that Procházka fought into the third round. Incredibly, Teixeira took shots to the face and body in order to set up the takedown. Procházka busted Teixeira open, then held him down and tried to submit him—before Teixeira reversed the position and landed a slicing elbow before the end of the round.
The fourth round opened with Teixeira attacking the body. They exchanged shots before Teixeira secured another takedown with three-and-a-half minutes remaining in the round. Teixeira mounted Procházka, but Procházka reversed that with 90 seconds left. But the jiu-jitsu of Teixeira was too much, and he forced his way out of the position and took Procházka’s back. This was an incredible round, adding to an already amazing fight, as the two men—covered in blood—fought for position.
Teixeira nearly knocked out Procházka in the early moments of round five, but could not capitalize on a guillotine lock. He started landing shots with frequency against a winded Procházka, securing another takedown and then seizing a full mount. Yet Procházka reversed to work partially off Teixeira’s back, and a fight where neither man would fall finally finished when Procházka tapped with only 28 seconds remaining due to a rear naked choke.
Procházka was down on the judges’ scorecards, yet that no longer matters. Teixeira defended the title valiantly, but Procházka is the new face of the light heavyweight division.
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO (c) VS. TAILA SANTOS -- 11:42 PM ET
Valentina Shevchenko passed an unexpected test against Taila Santos, winning an extremely close bout by split decision.
Shevchenko (23–3) controlled the final two rounds, but the strength of Santos (19–2) caused constant problems for the champ. Santos took Shevchenko’s back in the opening round after a scramble, which is an unfamiliar sight. Santos landed a takedown in the second round, and her grappling kept the first two rounds competitive.
A major turning point happened midway through the third round when the two clashed heads, leaving Santos barely able to open her right eye by the start of the fourth. That left Santos severely compromised, and Shevchenko immediately attacked Santos’s blind side. Shevchenko pivoted to striking, and Santos was unable to land another takedown until there were only 20 seconds remaining in the round.
The fifth round opened with Shevchenko’s combinations, then Santos landed a takedown. Shevchenko quickly worked her way back to her feet, then executed a takedown of her own, finishing the fight in a dominant position. This was the toughest test for Shevchenko at flyweight, but she still leaves with the belt.
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT BOUT: ZHANG WEILI VS. JOANNA JĘDRZEJCZYK -- 11:08 PM ET
There was doubt when Zhang Weili defeated Joanna Jędrzejczyk two years ago by split decision.
That was not the case in the rematch.
Weili (22–3) knocked out Jędrzejczyk (16–5) with a vicious spinning back fist, capping off a furious seven-minute fight that featured nonstop violence. Weili also controlled the majority of the first round, dictating the pace with her takedowns. She continues her dominance against every fighter not named Rose Namajunas.
With the victory, Weili puts herself in position to challenge Carla Esparza for the women’s strawweight title.
Following the loss, Jędrzejczyk announced her retirement, leaving behind her gloves and capping off an outstanding career as the most decorated UFC strawweight champion of all time.
WELTERWEIGHT BOUT: JAKE MATTHEWS VS. ANDRÉ FIALHO -- 10:39 PM ET
Jake Matthews delivered the most significant victory of his career, knocking out André Fialho in the second round.
Matthews (18–5) was sensational in the second round. He pummeled Fialho (16–5, 1 NC) in the second round, landing with perfect timing and speed. An uppercut from Matthews started the damage, followed by a left hook. His brand of aggressiveness made it only a matter of time before Matthews finished the fight. A right-hand jab rattled Fialho, then a body-head combo wobbled him, and then Matthews landed the walk-off.
This was Fialho’s fourth bout of 2022, and he has now split those fights. Even though he entered 275 on a hot streak, he was no match for Matthews.
WELTERWEIGHT BOUT: RAMAZAN EMEEV VS. JACK DELLA MADDALENA -- 10:21 PM ET
Jack Della Maddalena delivered a statement win in the main card opener.
Della Maddalena (12–2) proved, again, that the hype is for real with a first-round TKO victory against Ramazan Emeev.
Emeev (20–6) had a shot early in a submission attempt, but Della Maddalena worked his way free. The 25-year-old had never faced a wrestler like Emeev, but he then hurt him with body shots. This marks Della Maddalena’s 10th victory by KO, and his 12th win in a row.
Glover Teixeira will try to retain his title as light heavyweight champ at UFC 275.
Jasen Vinlove/USA Today Sports
Glover Teixeira looks to keep his late-career renaissance alive at UFC 275.
The 42-year-old Teixeira—who is the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion—meets a ferocious challenger in Jiří Procházka, who is explosive but untested on a stage this grand and an opponent as seasoned as Teixeira. Procházka (28–3–1) has won his only two UFC bouts, while Teixeira (33–7) has 21 fights in the Octagon. This marks Procházka’s opportunity to seize control of the division, while Teixeira intends to extend his unexpected championship run.
Another key matchup for UFC 275 is Valentina Shevchenko defending her flyweight title against Taila Santos. Shevchenko (22–3) should dominate. Santos (19–1) has looked impressive in the UFC, winning four of five bouts in the Octagon, but none of her opponents even begin to compare with Shevchenko. A win here will elevate Shevchenko back into a main event for the women’s bantamweight title, against either Amanda Nunes or reigning champ Julianna Peña.
The card also features a rematch from March 2020, pitting Zhang Weili against Joanna Jędrzejczyk. Weili (21–3) was victorious via split decision in that bout, putting a severe beating on the skull of Jędrzejczyk (16–4) in the process. Since then, Weili lost consecutive bouts to Rose Namajunas. This will be Jędrzejczyk’s first fight since the loss to Weili. And with new women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza seeking fresh opponents, this is a bout with significant consequences for Weili and Jędrzejczyk.
UFC 275 is not the flashiest card, but it should make up for that with plenty of substance on fight night.
