Light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira and second-ranked contender Jiri Prochazka both successfully made weight ahead of their showdown Saturday in the main event of UFC 275. Their matchup is the closer of two title bouts on the pay-per-view main card from Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The main UFC 275 fight card is set to start at 10 p.m. ET. Teixeira will be making his first title defense since winning the belt last October, while the upstart Prochazka is getting his first title bid in just his third UFC fight. In something of a rare occurrence for recent UFC cards, every other fighter who stepped on the scales Friday also made weight for the UFC’s first card in southeast Asia.
Prochazka is the -200 favorite (risk $200 to win $100), while Teixeira is priced at +170 in the latest Teixeira vs. Prochazka odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is listed at -700 in the UFC 275 odds as she takes on No. 4-ranked contender Taila Santos (+500) in another title fight for the co-main event. Before locking in any UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochazka picks, make sure you check out the MMA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine combat expert Andrew Gombas.
With more than 1,400 selections tracked by the third-party monitoring service Bet MMA, he has shown a 6 percent return on investment for his followers. Over the past two years, his followers have netted a profit of more than $10,000.
In January, Gombas kicked off the 2022 UFC season in memorable fashion by encouraging SportsLine members to back Calvin Kattar (+200) against Giga Chikadze (-240) in a battle of ranked featherweight contenders in the main event. Kattar dominated to win a unanimous decision and give his followers an easy winner. Anyone who has followed Gombas already has seen massive returns.
Now, with UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochazka in sight, Gombas has studied the fight card from every angle and released his top MMA picks. You can only see Gombas’ UFC 275 picks at SportsLine.
UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochazka preview
Teixeira’s run to the light heavyweight title is universally regarded as one of MMA’s top feel-good stories of recent note. The Brazilian made his UFC debut in May 2012 and has never lost more than two consecutive fights while remaining a viable contender.
He won his first five fights in the UFC but saw that streak come to an end with a decision loss against former champion Jon Jones in April 2014, his first title fight. He went 5-4 in nine outings following the loss to Jones while consistently facing world-class opponents.
His second title shot came on the heels of a five-fight win streak that included victories over former title challengers such as Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. Teixeira (33-7) made the most of his second title bid, just days after turning 42, when he took advantage of a flat performance from Blachowicz and submitted the Polish fighter without much resistance.
Prochazka (28-3-1) is still a relative unknown to many MMA observers but the 29-year-old Czech Republic native has been a professional fighter for 10 years and has dominated the competition at every stop.
He went 10-1 with the respected Rizin promotion, with his only defeat coming against former Strikeforce champion Muhammed Lawal in December 2015. Prochazka avenged that defeat with a third-round knockout of Lawal in an April 2019 title fight.
Prochazka is the rare UFC recruit who was permitted to skip the line into contender status because of his strength of resume. His plight is similar to that of Michael Chandler, the former Bellator champion who was immediately granted a top-five ranking upon signing with the UFC two years ago.
He earned the title shot with a second-round stoppage in a wild brawl last May against Dominick Reyes, the former title challenger who pushed Jones to a razor-thin decision. You can only see who to back at UFC 275 at SportsLine.
UFC 275 fight card predictions
We’ll share one of Gombas’ UFC 275 predictions here: He is backing Steve Garcia (-170) to get his hand raised against Hayisaer Maheshate (+150) in a battle of lightweight prospects on the preliminary card.
Garcia (12-4) is a power puncher who posted a 5-2 mark at Bellator and also had success with the Legacy Fighting Alliance before joining the UFC in 2020. The 30-year-old New Mexico native has split a pair of UFC fights and notched his first win with the promotion last October with a second-round stoppage of Charlie Ontiveros.
Maheshate (8-10) won seven fights with the WLF promotion before earning a UFC roster spot with a victory on “Dana White’s Contender Series” last year. The 22-year-old Chinese fighter has stopped three of his past five opponents.
“I’m surprised Garcia isn’t a significantly bigger favorite. He has a 4-inch reach advantage, has fought the better competition, and has the more well-rounded skill set. I think Garcia has the grappling edge as well,” Gombas told SportsLine.
How to make UFC 275 picks
Gombas has locked in strong picks for Teixeira vs. Prochazka and other fights on the UFC 275 card. He’s also backing a fighter who will “control the action” on the way to a dominant victory. Those UFC 275 picks are only available at SportsLine.
Who wins Teixeira vs. Prochazka? And what other picks do you need to see? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed top picks on UFC 275, all from the insider who’s up more than $10,000 on MMA picks the past two years, and find out.
UFC 275 odds, fight card
Jiri Prochazka (-200) vs. Glover Teixeira (+175)
Valentina Shevchenko (-700) vs. Taila Santos (+500)
Weili Zhang (-160) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (+140)
Seung Woo Choi (-240) vs. Joshua Culibao (+200)
Joselyne Edwards (-170) vs. Ramona Pascual (+150)
Batgerel Danaa (-145) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (+125)
Steve Garcia (-170) vs. Hayisaer Maheshate (+150)
Brendan Allen (-260) vs. Jacob Malkoun (+220)
Andre Fialho (-145) vs. Jake Matthews (+125)
Silvana Gomez Juarez (-155) vs. Na Liang (+135)
Jack Della Maddalena (-150) vs. Ramazan Emeev (+130)
Manel Kape (-230) vs. Rogerio Bontorin (+195)
