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UFC 275 rundown: Light heavyweight division is for the taking

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Jiri Prochazka won the UFC light heavyweight title Saturday, defeating Glover Teixeira by fifth-round submission in the UFC 275 main event in Singapore.

Also on the card, women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko survived the closest scare of her title reign and took home a split-decision win over Taila Santos, while Zhang Weili sent Joanna Jedrzejczyk into retirement with a "Knockout of the Year" candidate.

Here are four takeaways from the pay-per-view event:

205-pound division in flux

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This is the most exciting the light heavyweight division has been in a long, long time.

From March 2011 to August 2020, either Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier held the title. No one else broke through as the 205-pound king. Jones went on an all-time run that spanned two title reigns, but even Cormier secured an above-average three defenses before moving back to heavyweight.

However, the 205-pound division is no longer top-heavy, which could be the case for quite some time. Since September 2020, when Jan Blachowicz and Dominick Reyes fought for the light heavyweight title left vacant by Jones, the division has had three rulers: Blachowicz, Teixeira, and now Prochazka.

Blachowicz retained the title once, denying middleweight champion Israel Adesanya's March 2021 bid for a second UFC belt before tapping to a Teixeira rear-naked choke last October. Despite coming oh-so-close against Prochazka, Teixeira couldn't add a successful title defense to his list of achievements.

But Prochazka is a bit of a wild card. His wild and unpredictable style makes him dangerous yet vulnerable. He's a high-risk, high-reward fighter. Although Prochazka made quick work of his opposition during his rapid rise to UFC title contention, it took serious heart and grit to mount a comeback against Teixeira. However, Prochazka showed holes in his game that the contenders underneath him will try to exploit.

It wouldn't be surprising if Prochazka knocks off challenger after challenger, but a Magomed Ankalaev or Aleksandar Rakic could also give him fits and begin their own title reign. That's the reality of the light heavyweight division. It seems that the top-five fighters are all capable of beating one another on any given night, which sure wasn't the case when Jones or Cormier was at the top. Exciting times at 205.

Don't count out Teixeira

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Prochazka deserves all the credit in the world for his opportunistic finish of Teixeira. Going in, people thought the fight would either end with a Prochazka KO victory or a Teixeira win via submission. While it looked like that would be true for much of the bout, Prochazka stunned the MMA world by tapping the jiu-jitsu ace. Not only did he hand Teixeira his first career submission loss, but it was with 28 seconds left and with Prochazka needing a finish to get his hand raised.

Prochazka went for an unlikely Hail Mary, and it worked. He beat Teixeira at his own game.

However, we also can't forget Teixeira was in control. Yes, it was a back-and-forth battle with numerous momentum swings. But the Brazilian was ahead on two of the three judges' scorecards and also likely up in the fifth round with a couple of minutes to go.

Should Prochazka and Teixeira run it back - which is what the latter seems to want - Teixeira can't be counted out. Even at 42 years old, he proved he's still one of the best, if not the best, in the division. He has what it takes to beat Prochazka.

Age will catch up to Teixeira eventually, but it hasn't so far. He's still a problem at 205 pounds.

Santos weakens Shevchenko's aura

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Shevchenko is still the women's flyweight champion and pound-for-pound queen. But she no longer has the same aura of invincibility after Santos took her to a split decision in by far the most competitive fight of Shevchenko's title reign. And that's OK.

After all, this happens to most dominant champions. Jon Jones had Alexander Gustafsson. Anderson Silva had Chael Sonnen. Georges St-Pierre had Johny Hendricks. And, oddly, Amanda Nunes had Shevchenko.

None of those fighters would lose for years (Silva and Nunes), if at all (Jones and St-Pierre). So, for Shevchenko, this isn't really something to worry about. She still has the belt and will continue to make championship-level money - that's what matters most.

Having a bit of a scare could even be good for Shevchenko. It could be a learning experience. She's the kind of fighter who prides herself on perfection. She'll probably watch the fight and see a dozen moments where she should have done something differently. Shevchenko now has the closest thing to an equal at 125 pounds. Because of that, she'll come back even better, and that's terrifying to think about.

The only difference is there'll be less talk about her winning being a formality the next time she steps into the Octagon.

Zhang will be champ again

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Zhang looked like a woman on a mission in her rematch with Jedrzejczyk; a woman who wanted to leave no doubt after their first fight was razor close.

The former champion came out firing on all cylinders, perhaps learning what not to do from Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas after their snoozer of a strawweight title fight in May. Zhang gave Jedrzejczyk little room to breathe and then floored her with the first spinning-back-fist knockout in women's UFC history.

It was beyond impressive.

Esparza retaking the throne last month seven years after her reign as inaugural strawweight champion ended was a very cool moment, despite the fight being boring. But Zhang is coming for that strap.

The Zhang who showed up Saturday might just be the best 115-pound fighter on the planet. Of course, that's not an easy argument to make when Namajunas beat her twice in 2021. But that's how good Zhang looked against Jedrzejczyk. She was more aggressive, explosive, and busy than in the second Namajunas fight, which ended in a split decision that some thought could've gone Zhang's way.

Women's strawweight is looking a bit like men's light heavyweight, as that belt could also change hands frequently over the next year or two. But as it stands right now, Zhang seems poised to beat Esparza and become a two-time champ. What she'd be able to do from there is a bit tougher to say.

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