Tag: Taila Santos

Report – Erin Blanchfield misses out on title fight, books UFC Singapore clash with Taila Santos

Erin Blanchfield books UFC Singapore fight with Taila Santos in AugustStreaking flyweight contender, Erin Blanchfield appears to have missed out on a potential vacant title challenge at the bantamweight limit – instead booking a potential championship-eliminator at the flyweight limit against one-time title chaser, Taila Santos at UFC Fight Night Singapore on August 26. In Kallang. Blanchfield, the current number three ranked flyweight contender, has […]

Erin Blanchfield books UFC Singapore fight with Taila Santos in August

Streaking flyweight contender, Erin Blanchfield appears to have missed out on a potential vacant title challenge at the bantamweight limit – instead booking a potential championship-eliminator at the flyweight limit against one-time title chaser, Taila Santos at UFC Fight Night Singapore on August 26. In Kallang.

Blanchfield, the current number three ranked flyweight contender, has so far enjoyed an impressive five-fight undefeated run during her tenure with the UFC, most recently turning in a one-sided second round submission win over former strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade with a rear-naked choke back in February. The win earned Blanchfield a Performance of the Night bonus to boot.

As for Santos, the Brazilian has been sidelined since she co-headlined UFC 275 back in June of last year in Singapore, suffering a close decision loss to former flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko in a judging defeat.

Erin Blanchfield books rescheduled bout with Taila Santos for August

Santos was initially scheduled to fight Blanchfield at the aforenoted February event at the UFC Apex facility, due to VISA issues with her corner team. Freak MMA on Instagram was first to report the news of Erin Blanchfield’s return against Taila Santos in August. 

11-1 as a professional, Blanchfield, a former Invicta FC staple, joined the UFC ranks back in September 2021, landing a victory over Sarah Alpar. In subsequent victories, Blanchfield defeated Miranda Maverick, JJ Aldrich, as well as Molly McCann, before her career-highlight stoppage win over Andrade.

Santos, 30, boasts a 19-2 professional résumé – defeating Molly McCann, Gillian Robertson, Roxanne Modafferi, and Scottish contender, Joanne Wood en route to her title opportunity against the aforenoted, Shevchenko.

UFC Fight Night Singapore takes place on August 26. from the Singapore Indoor Arena in Kallang, Singapore – with a featherweight fight between former champion, Max Holloway and two-time title challenger, Chan Sung Jung. 

Taila Santos out, Erin Blanchfield now headlines UFC Vegas 69 against Jessica Andrade on February 17.

Jessica Andrade UFC Vegas 69 Erin BlanchfieldOne-time UFC flyweight title challenger, Taila Santos has been forced from her UFC Vegas 69 main event clash against promotional perfect contender, Erin Blanchfield on February 17. – with the Invicta FC alum now clashing with former undisputed strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade next weekend. The event is scheduled to take place from the UFC Apex […]

Jessica Andrade UFC Vegas 69 Erin Blanchfield

One-time UFC flyweight title challenger, Taila Santos has been forced from her UFC Vegas 69 main event clash against promotional perfect contender, Erin Blanchfield on February 17. – with the Invicta FC alum now clashing with former undisputed strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade next weekend. The event is scheduled to take place from the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Boasting an impressive 10-1 professional record, promotional perfect prospect, Blanchfield managed to land a one-sided first round kimura submission victory over Liverpudlian fan-favorite, Molly McCann at UFC 281 back in November at Madison Square Garden.

Jessica Andrade makes a quickfire Octagon return on a weeks’ notice

As for Jessica Andrade, the Brazilian berseker, who currently occupies the #6 rank at strawweight, as well as the #3 rank at the flyweight limit, most recently featured against Lauren Murphy just last month at UFC 283 in Brazil, landing a one-sided decision victory. During the official UFC 284 broadcast tonight, the promotion confirmed Santos had been replaced by Andrade and would face Blanchfield next weekend.

Clinching the #10 rank in the official flyweight pile in her November submission win over McCann, Blanchfield, a native of New Jersey, has managed to rack up consecutive victories over four opponents since her transition to the UFC back in 2021. 

Debuting with a decision win over Sarah Alpar, Blanchfield then bested Miranda Maverick, before then defeating JJ Aldrich, and McCann in submission stoppages since. 

24-9 as a professional, Jessica Andrade managed to strike undisputed strawweight gold with a worrying slam knockout win over Rose Namajunas back in May 2019 on home soil.

Enjoying an impressive three-fight winning run which includes her Rio de Janeiro decision win over Murphy, Andrade had landed prior a submission win over Amanda Lemos, and a knockout victory over Cynthia Calvillo. 

UFC Vegas 69 takes place on February 17. from the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Lauren Murphy: Taila Santos Beat Valentina Shevchenko

Lauren Murphy has weighed in on the controversial UFC 275 bout between Taila Santos and Valentina Shevchenko. At the event, Shevchenko put her Flyweight Championship up for grabs against the Brazilian contender in an exhausting five-round affair. The c…

Lauren Murphy has weighed in on the controversial UFC 275 bout between Taila Santos and Valentina Shevchenko. At the event, Shevchenko put her Flyweight Championship up for grabs against the Brazilian contender in an exhausting five-round affair. The closely contested bout was ultimately ruled a split decision in ‘Bullet’s favor. Many, however, felt that Santos…

Continue Reading Lauren Murphy: Taila Santos Beat Valentina Shevchenko at MMA News.

Erin Blanchfield: Taila Santos Not Dangerous Despite Controversial Title Loss

UFC flyweight contender Erin Blanchfield respects Taila Santos’ skillset, although she feels she doesn’t bring many scary elements to their fight. Blanchfield and Santos will square off on February 18th. This comes after Blanchfield defeate…

UFC flyweight contender Erin Blanchfield respects Taila Santos’ skillset, although she feels she doesn’t bring many scary elements to their fight. Blanchfield and Santos will square off on February 18th. This comes after Blanchfield defeated Molly McCann at UFC 281, and Santos narrowly lost to UFC Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 275. On paper,…

Continue Reading Erin Blanchfield: Taila Santos Not Dangerous Despite Controversial Title Loss at MMA News.

Valentina Shevchenko offers flyweight title fight to Manon Fiorot next, calls for UFC to book clash in 2023

Valentina ShevchenkoUndisputed UFC flyweight titleholder, Valentina Shevchenko has offered to defend her undisputed throne against surging French contender, Manon Fiorot next – claiming most-recent title chaser, Taila Santos likely needs to win another fight before landing a rematch with her. Shevchenko, 34, most recently co-headlined UFC 275 back in June of this year in Singapore against […]

Valentina Shevchenko

Undisputed UFC flyweight titleholder, Valentina Shevchenko has offered to defend her undisputed throne against surging French contender, Manon Fiorot next – claiming most-recent title chaser, Taila Santos likely needs to win another fight before landing a rematch with her.

Shevchenko, 34, most recently co-headlined UFC 275 back in June of this year in Singapore against Brazilian contender, Santos, narrowly defending her flyweight throne in a close, split decision victory in Kallang.

The win ensured Shevchenko continued her perfect run at the flyweight limit since her move to the weight class back in 2018 – extending her undefeated record at 125lbs to nine fights to boot.

For Fiorot, the France native improved to 10-1 as a professional at UFC 280 back in October on ‘Fight Island’ handing common-foe and one-time title challenger, Katlyn Chookagian a unanimous decision loss. The victory also saw Fiorot land at #1 in the official flyweight rankings to boot. 

Valentina Shevchenko floats 2023 fight against Manon Fiorot

Welcoming an Octagon return as soon as possible, Shevchenko mentioned a potential fight with the aforenoted, Fiorot as a potential next opponent.

“I was thinking about Manon Fiorot to defend my title – to defend flyweight [title next],” Valentina Shevchenko told The Schmo during a recent interview. And I asked [the UFC] to send me the agreement as soon as they can because I was ready to fight in December. I was ready to fight tomorrow. But yeah, [we] probably will do it next year.”

As far as an immediate title rematch with Santos is concerned, however, Kyrgyzstan native, Shevchenko has urged the Brazilian to earn her shot at flyweight spoils.

“Taila, she kind of has to prove about herself, that she deserves this title again,” Valentina Shevchenko explained. “Because she recently started to speak too much. And these kind of girls, young girls, they have a few victories, some losses, and they have too much ego, and they are starting to speak about themselves like they are something.” (Transcribed by MMA News)

Taila Santos on a potential rematch with ‘scared’ Valentina Shevchenko: “She has no ground game.”

Taila Santos, Valentina ShevchenkoTaila Santos is convinced that Valentina Shevchenko is afraid to fight her.  They fought for the UFC flyweight title at UFC 275 this past June. It was the toughest test in Shevchenko’s four-year title run as she scored a split-decision win over Santos.  Santos (19-2) opted out of surgery for a broken orbital bone after […]

Taila Santos, Valentina Shevchenko

Taila Santos is convinced that Valentina Shevchenko is afraid to fight her. 

They fought for the UFC flyweight title at UFC 275 this past June. It was the toughest test in Shevchenko’s four-year title run as she scored a split-decision win over Santos. 

Santos (19-2) opted out of surgery for a broken orbital bone after the five-round war. Now, she’s healthy and is looking for another opportunity at UFC gold. 

“We’ve been asking for fights over and over again — asking for the rematch, really,” Santos told MMA Fighting. “Tiago [Okamura, manager] spoke with Mick [Maynard] and the UFC, informed them I was well and training. They even said that Valentina was running. She asked them for fights, but not against me.” (h/t MMA Fighting)

Taila Santos Says Everyone Is Avoiding Her 

The 29-year-old says the UFC are having a hard time finding an opponent for her. She says many contenders are avoiding her, including Shevchenko. According to Santos, the champion has denied requests for a rematch. In June, one judge had it 48-47 for Santos over Shevchenko.

“All the girls say Valentina is a monster, but I’ve been saying for a while she has no ground game,” Santos said. “I showed that there was no reason to fear [her]. I knew she wouldn’t accept a rematch after that fight. I called her out anyway, but I knew she wouldn’t take the risk of losing her belt. She wouldn’t rematch me after I showed she was no big deal. She’s scared.” (h/t MMA Fighting)

The #2 flyweight wants to face someone close to her ranking. Santos is interested in fighting before the year ends or during the beginning of 2023. She mentioned two potential opponents for her return.

“I’m ranked No. 2 in the UFC, so I would like to fight someone around me,” Santos said. “I would like to fight the No. 1, [Manon] Fiorot, or the one below me, [Katlyn] Chookagian. People keep talking and talking, mentioning fighters that have retired already, but no one says my name.” (h/t MMA Fighting)

Santos is 4-1 in her last five octagon appearances. She has wins over Molly McCann, Joanne Wood, Gillian Robertson and Roxanne Modafferi.