UFC 275 Best Bet: Valentina Shevchenko vs Taila Santos

The co-main event of UFC 275 is another title fight, but this time it’s the women’s Flyweight division. Valentina ‘The Bullet’ Shevchenko will attempt to make her 7th title defence in a row against the 4th-ranked fighter in the division Taila Santos. The champ is listed as the heavy favourite, and the betting public is expecting another dominating performance, but I have a slightly different angle.

UFC 275 Best Bet:

• Valentina Shevchenko vs Taila Santos: Fight to go the Distance

Odds as at 02:30 pm June 9th 2022. Odds may now differ.

Valentina Shevchenko vs Taila Santos Best Bet

The women’s Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko makes her way back into the UFC octagon once again looking to defend her title for the 6th time in a row. She has been dominating the division since 2018, after winning the title against Joanna Jędrzejczyk. She has since defeated more than enough tough opponents and her resume speaks for itself. Jéssica Andrade, Jeniffer Maia, Katlyn Chookagian, Holly Holm, and Liz Carmouche have all felt the wrath of ‘The Bullet’.

At 34 years of age, Shevchenko is still very much in her prime, having won 8 fights in a row, and she is still showing no signs of slowing down. Her striking is by far the most technical in the game and she has some serious knockout power. Her grappling is also at a very high level with 7 career submission victories and 0 losses. That said, everybody and their grandmother are expecting just another dominant Shevchenko performance and KO victory and it shows. She is the heavy favourite at 1.16 odds to win and according to Unibet, 99% of bettors are backing her to win.

So with absolutely no betting value on backing the champ to win this fight once again, let’s take a look at where we can find some. Taila Santos is just 29 years old and has a background in Muay-Thai. Her striking has been by far her biggest strength so far in her MMA career, with 10 of her 19 victories coming by KO/TKO. That said, she hasn’t been finishing opponents that often since joining the UFC, but that goes in our favour tonight. Taila’s grappling has also reached a solid level and I don’t expect Valentina to be able to dominate her like she does other opponents.

In the words of the greatest UFC Commentator of all time Stephen A. Smith, let me be very clear, I’m certainly not thinking about backing Santos to win this one, I’m merely suggesting that she has a solid chance of surviving. Shevchenko has gotten content with staying back and bombing her opponents from long range, and she isn’t too keen on getting into dirty close-range exchanges. She will respect the striking technique and power of Santos, and if you’re expecting another Lauren Murphy-type fight out there, this simply isn’t what Taila Santos does.

Santos knows what she’s doing in the stand-up and she is a very real threat to potentially even get the decision victory. She has yet to be KO/TKO-ed in her career and her durability is right up with the best of them. Expect to see a very respectful and cautious bout from both fighters, and even though I believe the champ will come out on top in the end, I’m backing Santos to avoid getting finished. She will survive.

• Selection: Fight to go the Distance
• Best Odds: 1.83 (Bet365)
• Stakes: 6/10

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