5 biggest winners from UFC 275: Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka

#4. Jake Matthews – defeated Andre Fialho in a UFC welterweight bout

Jake Matthews showed dramatic improvements in his win over Andre Fialho

If you rewind a couple of years ago, there were few hotter prospects in the UFC’s welterweight division than Jake Matthews. ‘The Celtic Kid’ debuted in the octagon back in 2014 as a 20-year old and picked up some good early wins, but it was 2018 when he really appeared to hit his stride, winning three in a row.

However, a loss to Anthony Martin derailed him pretty badly, and while he won another three bouts between 2019 and 2020, his 2021 loss to Sean Brady seemed to suggest he’d never make it to the top of the mountain.

However, last night, in his first bout for well over a year, ‘The Celtic Kid’ looked fantastic. His fight with Andre Fialho appeared to be set up for the Portuguese to pick up his third highlight reel knockout of the year, but things didn’t pan out that way at all.

Instead, Matthews demonstrated a massively improved boxing game, took the fight to Fialho, and ended up stopping him with a brutal combination in the second round.

Whether these new boxing skills can finally elevate Matthews up the ladder remains a question mark, as to be fair, three of his five losses have come via submission. However, if he can continue to fight like this, another climb is a definite possibility – and he was definitely one of last night’s big winners.

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#3. Valentina Shevchenko – defeated Taila Santos to defend the UFC flyweight title

Quite whether Valentina Shevchenko deserved the win over Taila Santos is up for debate

Prior to last night’s event, UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko had never really been tested at 125lbs. She’d claimed the title there in 2018 by outpointing Joanna Jedrzejczyk and had reeled off six straight title defenses, finishing four of them.

Her fight with Taila Santos was supposed to be business as usual. The Brazilian looked like a decent prospect, but she’d won just four bouts in the octagon and simply didn’t look ready for ‘Bullet’. However, when it came to fight time, things were a little different.

Incredibly, the challenger dominated the first two rounds on the ground – coming close with a rear-naked choke in the opening stanza – and then appeared to have edged the third round, too.

Shevchenko came back well in the final two rounds, though, hurting the Brazilian with her strikes, but when she couldn’t secure a finish, it looked like her title reign was about to be over.

Instead, though, the judges surprisingly handed ‘Bullet’ a split decision, with one of the three somehow giving her four of the five rounds.

Should Shevchenko really be considered a big winner, then, given that she arguably lost the fight? Well, yes. Every fighter has an off-day, and last night was probably hers – meaning the fact that she somehow escaped with her title should be considered a huge achievement.