Glover Teixeira’s career spans 19 years and 39 fights. The biggest yet comes this Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
Throughout his career, Teixeira has fought the absolute best fighters in the light heavyweight division, and in 2014 he earned a UFC title shot against the consensus best fighter on the planet, Jon Jones. He came up short in that title bid, but took Jones the distance at a time when the champion was in his physical prime.
Even all of those years ago, it seemed like the likelihood of Teixeira getting another title shot before his career came to a conclusion was slim. But here we are, seven years onward, and Teixeira has quietly strung together a five fight win streak, with four stoppage wins to earn himself yet another crack at the title.
Not many seem to be picking the Brazilian to take the title at 41-years young. Teixeira enters this fight the underdog, but those are just betting odds. Teixeira entered his last two fights as the underdog, and came out on the other side with two stoppage victories.
If he beats Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267, Teixeira goes forward as one of the most unlikely UFC light heavyweight champions. But then again, after Glover’s recent late-career resurgence that saw him capture wins over Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and others, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised.
For our full preview on the UFC 267 main event and Glover Teixeira, check out the video above. The card takes place Saturday on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, and is a rare free UFC numbered event.
