Glover Teixeira knows his next fight will be for the UFC light heavyweight title. The Brazilian is also well aware it will be his final shot at the title.
After Jan Blachowicz beat Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 to defend his belt, it was clear Teixeira would be next. For the Brazilian, he is eager to fight for UFC gold later this year or in 2021.
“Anything can happen, but, of course, by logic, based on everything that’s going on, this is my opportunity,” Teixeira said to MMAFighting. “I’m very confident I’ll be the next contender. Not only the next contender, I’ll be the next UFC champion – 2021, brother.
“This is the year. I worked really hard in 2019 and 2020, opening a new gym in 2019, coming off a loss, investing a lot of money without knowing what future would hold for me, the future of my career, where I was heading to, if everything would be alright. And I won three fights in 2019, the pandemic came in 2020 and my gym was closed, but I managed to do two wonderful fights, and now I’ll fight Blachowicz. I made sure to wait. No problem. This is my last chance. Everybody knows that, I know that. I’m 41 and I’ll do everything I can to win this belt. Let’s make history.”
Glover Teixeira is riding a five-fight winning streak and coming off a submission win over Thiago Santos. During this streak, he also beat Anthony Smith, Nikita Krylov, Ion Cutelaba, and Karl Roberson. He also fought for the UFC title against Jon Jones in 2014 and lost by decision.
In his career, Teixeira holds notable wins over Rampage Jackson, Ovince Saint Preux, Ryan Bader, and Rashad Evans among others. But, if he can beat Blachowicz to become the champ, his legacy would be set in stone as one of the best light heavyweights ever.
