Erin Blanchfield vs Taila Santos slated for UFC Singapore
UFC on ESPN 50 is coming together quite nicely, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship continues adding exciting match ups to the lineup.
UFC on ESPN 50 is to go down on August 26, 2023, live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
Headlining the event is an epic featherweight bout between former champion Max Holloway (24-7) and two-time title challenger Chan Sung Jung (17-7), a fight that had eluded us for years.
Another exciting encounter that’s just recently been added to the event comes in the flyweight division between no. 3 ranked Taila Santos (19-2) and no. 4 ranked Erin Blanchfield (11-1).
This is a fight we all need to see happen; Blanchfield is as much of a prodigy as we’ve seen in the sport, and Santos should arguably be the champion right now.
Taila Santos went onto Dana White’s Contender Series as the AFC bantamweight champion with a perfect record of 14-0. Following victory in that bout she’d debut in the UFC six months later, losing to Mara Romero Borella via split decision.
Santos then went on a four-fight win streak, defeating the likes of Molly McCann (UD), Gillian Robertson (UD), Roxanne Modafferi (UD), and Joanne Calderwood (rear naked choke), leading into her title bout with longtime champion Valentina Shevchenko.
When all five rounds were completed, Shevchenko was awarded the split decision victory, though many, most people even believed that the Brazilian challenger had beat her.
Nonetheless, she gets a chance to right that wrong later this summer in Singapore when she faces a true assassin in New York’s Erin Blanchfield.
Blanchfield is Eddie Bravo’s Invitational champion, a grappling tournament she won at just 18 years of age.
Following a 3-0 start to her MMA career, she’d fall short against fellow current UFC contender Tracy Cortez (no. 14), losing their Invicta FC bout via split decision.
Blanchfield would win her next three bouts before being called up to the big show, where she’s since gone undefeated against the likes of Sarah Alpar (UD), Miranda Maverick (UD), JJ Aldrich (guillotine choke), Molly McCann (kimura), and most recently former UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade (rear naked choke).
Her grappling has been at the elite-of-the-elite level for some time now, which is a true feat at just 24 years of age, and her striking has also come a long way over these last two or so years.
These two have a combined mixed martial arts record of 30-3, all three defeats coming via split decision.
Who walks away from this epic flyweight encounter going down at UFC on ESPN 50 the victor?
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