Luca Fury's UFC 275 Main Event Breakdown: Prochazka Vs. Teixiera

 

Two glass cannons meet in a five round bout for the UFC light heavyweight title. Both fighters have potent offense and pressure but limited defense, especially on the feet. This should lead to an entertaining, violent contest before an inevitable stoppage.

 

Jiri Prochazka is a forward moving, high pressure volume striker with solid power and great killer instinct. His technique and footwork are not particular clean, but when he swarms, he’s a monster for anyone to deal with. A stream of punches, kicks, knees and elbows flow early and often as he looks to overwhelm his foes. His defense is lacking, however. Both in terms of head movement and blocking, his game leaves much to be desired. Jiri’s cardio has also shown to be shaky, as he slows midway through his fights. Once he begins to gas, his striking attack becomes limited and outright sloppy. His takedown defense has been questionable in the past, and his grappling game has shown to be somewhat effective but limited.

 

Glover Teixeira has a good overhand right to left hook combination with accuracy and power, but he often times spams it in a predictable manner. Outside of that, his striking is fairly limited and his durability is questionable. His best strength is on the mat, utilizing his dominant top position grappling and chokes. Glover has good double and single leg takedowns to get opposition down, and once there, he’s an active guard passer. Heavy from top, the Brazilian has highly effective arm triangles and rear naked chokes with damaging ground and pound.

 

Between the aggressive styles, potent offense, unreliable defense and questionable durability, we should see a finish in the first couple rounds regardless of who wins. On the feet, either Prochazka swarms him for the T/KO or he gets clipped and put down himself. If this hits the mat, it should be Teixeira on top with a sizable advantage, which should also lead to a stoppage. I slightly favor Jiri to win, but there’s no chance I’d lay 2-1 on him here. The best play on this fight is the under 2.5 rounds at -170.

 

Prediction: Prochazka by KO

 

Betting lean: Under 2.5 -170