Athletes
Glover Teixeira’s Run Back To A Title Shot
As Glover Teixeira Continues His Tenure As A Top Light Heavyweight Mainstay On The UFC's Roster, We Break Down His Top Fights Between His First Title Shot In 2014 And UFC 267
Since making his UFC debut back in 2012, Glover Teixeira has been a mainstay at the top of the light heavyweight division.
Fighter Timeline: Glover Teixeira
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Fighter Timeline: Glover Teixeira
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Teixeira has finished 12 of his 15 UFC victories and is one of the most respected men in the sport. On Saturday October 30, Teixeira gets his long-awaited second shot at the UFC light heavyweight throne when he takes on Jan Blachowicz in Abu Dhabi.
How To Watch UFC 267 — ESPN+ Special Presentation From Abu Dhabi
The 41-year-old Brazilian failed to take the title from Jon Jones back in 2014 and spent the last seven years and some change working his way back to a title shot.
Let’s look at the fights that helped him get there:
Glover Teixeira vs Rashad Evans
UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs Evans – April 16, 2016
Glover Teixeira put the pressure on Rashad Evans in the first round of their main event bout. As Evans circled around the outside of the Octagon, Teixeira connected with a bomb of a left hook before tagging him with a few extra rights that forced Herb Dean to jump in and stop the bout.
Glover Teixeira vs Misha Cirkunov
UFC Fight Night: Lawler vs dos Anjos – December 16, 2017
A couple of up and down results against Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson left Teixeira in a weird spot. He was third in the world, but also being viewed as a gatekeeper to title contention.
The rising Misha Cirkunov found out that statement wasn’t true in a big way when Teixeira took him to the canvas, went for a submission before switching into a mount and finishing him with some powerful ground-and-pound.
Watch The Full Fight On UFC Fight Pass
Glover Teixeira vs Karl Roberson
UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs Dillashaw – January 19, 2019
After defeating Cirkunov, Teixeira would go on to face a setback against Corey Anderson. But that loss, all the way back in July 2018, was the last time Teixeira has come out on the wrong end of a fight result.
Teixeira started his five-fight winning streak against Dana White’s Contender Series alum Karl Roberson on the UFC’s first ever event during the ESPN era. He faced serious adversity early when Roberson dropped him with some violent elbows in the clinch, but he was able to hang on, get up and then secure a takedown of his own.
Watch The Full Fight On UFC Fight Pass
Teixeira then executed some of his textbook ground-and-pound before locking in a beautiful arm triangle submission for the win.
Glover Teixeira vs Anthony Smith
UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs Smith – May 13, 2020
After defeating Roberson, Texieira put together back-to-back wins over Ion Cutelaba and Nikita Krylov on his way to a main event showdown with Anthony Smith.
Watch The Full Fight On UFC Fight Pass
Smith started out strong, connecting almost at will with his jab and his crisp combinations. But in classic Teixeira fashion, he persevered until he was able to land a devastating uppercut that hurt Smith badly at the start of the third. He followed that up with a huge left hook that dropped “Lionheart”.
From that point until the stoppage, it was an absolute master class of pressure and position as Teixeira pounded out a dominant and impressive TKO win.
Glover Teixeira vs Thiago Santos
UFC Fight Night: Santos vs Teixeira – November 7, 2020
Thiago Santos vs Glover Teixeira delivered, as both fighters laid it on the line with the hopes of getting a crack at the UFC light heavyweight title.
Watch The Full Fight On UFC Fight Pass
Santos displayed his incredible power and explosiveness as Teixeira let his gameplan play out. It was a great chess match, and even though Teixeira found himself in danger at times, once the fight hit the ground, he was able to overwhelm Santos and finish him in the third round with a nice rear naked choke.
Teixeira waited for champion Jan Blachowicz to defend his title against middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 before being granted his second chance at the belt.
What a climb back to the top.
Don’t miss the ESPN+ special presentation of UFC 267: Blachowicz vs Teixeira on Saturday October 30th, 2021. Please note special broadcast times — prelims begin at 10:30am ET/7:30am PT, with the two-title fight main card starting at 2pm ET/11am PT.
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