UFC 275 went down this past weekend (Sat., June 11, 2022) in Kallang, Singapore, leaving plenty of fighters leaving the post-fight blues. Among them was Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who retired after she was knocked out by Zhang Weili.
And Taila Santos, who was so close at dethroning Valentina Shevchenko, ultimately losing a split decision after a 25-minute battle. But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a a few days removed from the show?
Coming into the event, Teixeira was looking to earn his first-ever title defense after winning the strap in 2021. And after the first four rounds, he was well on his way to doing so despite some questionable mistakes such as going for a standing guillotine when he had his foe rocked.
In the final minute of the back-and-forth fight, Teixeira gave Prochazka enough daylight to sink in a rear-naked choke that forced him to tap for the first time in his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career. Despite the setback, the long-time veteran is determined to keep going.
“We got hit a little bit there, but I gave my best in this fight,” Teixeira said via a social media post (via MMA Fighting). “But, the hand came in the neck, I was very tired, and I think I didn’t believe [in the submission]. I should have turned, but now it’s too late to cry over spilled milk. Live by the sword, die by the sword. I gave my best and it wasn’t enough, but let’s go for the next one. Thank you to all of you that root for me for the support. I’m fine, just a few cuts, but let’s go.”
Teixeira proved that he can still hang with the best at 42 years of age. He had the highly-touted No. 1 contender — who is 13 years younger than him — on the ropes and was well on his way to his first-ever title defense.
As for what realistically could be next for the Brazilian bomber, as odd as it may sound, a rematch against Jan Blachowicz could be in order. Teixeira defeated the Polish-born fighter at UFC 267 just eight months ago to win the title, but when we look at the rest of the 205-pound landscape it actually makes sense.
So let’s break it down …
As much as Teixeira wants a rematch against Prochazka, I don’t see that happening for the simple fact that it wasn’t a controversial loss and it was just Teixeira’s first title defense attempt.
Blachowicz (No. 1) wants a shot at Prochazka, but that probably isn’t going to happen because Dana White declared that the winner of Magomed Ankalaev (No. 4) and Anthony Smith (No. 5) at UFC 277 would be next. Blachowicz is coming off a win over Aleksandar Rakic (No. 3), though it did come as a result of an injury. Speaking of which, Rakic will be out of the picture for a while.
And that pretty much covers everyone in the Top 5. Anyone after that doesn’t make sense for Teixeira because he has either beaten them, are coming off defeats or are too low-ranked, specifically Paul Craig (No. 8) and Jamahal Hill (No. 10), who are on a four- and two-fight win streak, respectively.
That’s my suggestion, what’s yours?
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 275: “Teixeira vs. Prochazka” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.