Santos-Blanchfield, Smith vs. Spann 2 Booked on Aug. 26 UFC Singapore Event

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.

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.