Two high-level matchups have been added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to
Singapore in August.
On Friday, Instagram account Freak MMA first
broke the story that Taila
Santos (19-2) would be battling it out with Erin
Blanchfield (11-1) at 125 pounds on Aug. 26. The two flyweights
will duke it out at
UFC Fight Night 225 inside of the Singapore Indoor Arena in
Kallang, Singapore. Blanchfield confirmed this fight on her own
Instagram right after the fight news dropped.
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This will be Santos’ first walk to the Octagon since she lost an
ultra-close split decision to former champ Valentina
Shevchenko in June 2022. While some observers including one
judge thought she did enough to dethrone Shevchenko, a clash of
heads caused major swelling around Santos’ right eye to potentially
compromise her in the later rounds. Before the championship defeat,
Santos had strung together four straight wins, including a trio of
decisions over Molly
McCann, Gillian
Robertson and Roxanne
Modafferi. A first-round submission over Joanne Wood
earned her the crack at the belt.
While Santos hit a speed bump last year, it has been nothing but
smooth sailing for 24-year-old Blanchfield in the UFC thus far. The
woman known as “Cold Blooded” has racked up five straight wins
since her 2021 debut to Sarah Alpar.
Most notably, her 2022 campaign saw her tap J.J. Aldrich
and Molly
McCann, leading to her February tapout victory over Jessica
Andrade. Three of her four submissions as a pro have come in
this current stretch she is riding.
Additionally, news came out on Friday from
MMA Junkie that the UFC had added a pivotal light heavyweight
rematch to this same event. Anthony
Smith (36-18) and Ryan Spann
(21-8) will run back an intense meeting that ended with Smith
earning the early submission back in September 2021. The two
briefly engaged in trash talk following the fight, but cooler heads
did prevail in the cage. The fight has since been confirmed by
other outlets.
Since putting Spann away in late 2021, Smith has struggled inside
the Octagon. With one appearance in 2022 – a knockout loss to
future title challenger Magomed
Ankalaev – and one so far this year, “Lionheart” has seen his
activity rate slow. The 34-year-old out of Factory X faced off
against Johnny
Walker in May, and he lost a decision in a fight that many
expected would end much sooner. The stoppage rate for the Nebraskan
currently sits at around 91 to 94% depending on the unknown status
of a 2008 triumph.
Each of the last six outings for Spann have ended in the first
round, win or lose. After his defeat to Smith, Spann secured
stoppages of Ion
Cutelaba and Dominick
Reyes to remind the masses he was still an elite contender. Due
an unexpected delay, Spann’s last appearance came at 215 pounds
against Nikita
Krylov, and he fell into a trap of a triangle choke. The finish
rate of “Superman” may not be as high as Smith’s, but it remains
impressive at 86%.
UFC Singapore takes place at the Singapore Indoor Arena in Kallang
on Aug. 26. The main attraction will see former featherweight king
Max
Holloway throw down with Chan Sung
Jung over five rounds. In addition to the two key fights added
on these Friday reports, other pairings include a middleweight
contest of Chidi
Njokuani vs. Michal
Oleksiejczuk, a heavyweight slugfest between Waldo
Cortes-Acosta and Lukasz
Brzeski, a bantamweight tilt between Rinya
Nakamura and Fernando
Garcia as well as a flyweight clash pitting Aldrich against
Na
Liang.