UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz will look to defend his title for the second time as he takes on Glover Teixeira on September 4 at UFC 266.
Per a statement to Brett Okamoto of ESPN from UFC President Dana White, the UFC light heavyweight championship will be on the line at UFC 266 on September 4. There, Jan Blachowicz will look to defend the title against top contender Glover Teixeira. No venue or details on the undercard have been announced.
Reigning champion Jan Blachowicz (28-8) is looking to continue a spectacular run that has seen him win and defend the title after putting together a three fight win-streak. The Polish powerhouse blazed a trail to the championship with knockouts of Luke Rockhold, Corey Anderson, and a victory over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Last year, he stopped top-ranked Dominick Reyes to win the title in spectacular fashion. This past March, he bested reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in a five round affair to record his first title defense.
Glover Teixeira (32-7) is looking to complete his long trek back to title contention after previously fighting for the belt nearly ten years ago. After accumulating a 20 fight win-streak that included fights outside the UFC, he came up short against then champion Jon Jones in 2012. Afterwards, Teixeira struggled to return to title contention after being stopped by Anthony Johnson in a title eliminator and going 5-5 overall after fighting for the belt. However, the 41 year old contender has seemingly aged like a fine win in recent years by going on a five fight win-streak. His run saw him best Karl Roberson, Ion Cutelaba, Nikita Krylov, Anthony Smith, and Thiago Santos to earn another shot at UFC gold.
No venue for the event was given, although the UFC has shown that they are expanding toward more cities and arenas as they open back up following national closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since June of last year, the UFC has only held events at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas or on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
