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Former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira won’t retire if he reclaims his belt next month in Brazil.
Promotion president Dana White announced at the UFC 282 post-fight press conference on December 10 that Teixeira would battle Jamahal Hill for the vacant 205-pound strap at UFC 283 on January 21. Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev fought for gold that night, however the match was ruled a split-draw.
Teixeira was originally supposed to headline UFC 282 opposite then-champion Jiri Prochazka, however Prochazka suffered a shoulder injury a few weeks before the event and vacated the belt. Teixeira was given the option of fighting Ankalaev for the vacant championship at UFC 282, but he declined, stating that he wanted more time to prepare for the Russian-born athlete.
Well, Teixeira will have an opportunity to become a two-time light heavyweight champion in Rio de Janeiro.
And Teixeira told MMA Fighting in an interview that he won’t retire if he hoists gold. Since Teixeira is 43 and alluded to retirement earlier this year, some have expressed their concern that if the Brazilian fighter defeats Hill, he’ll leave the sport and the belt would become vacant for the third time since Jon Jones dropped it in 2020.
Teixeira Said He ‘Definitely’ Won’t’ Retire if He Becomes Champion Again
Teixeira said in the interview that he planned to live in the moment, which included not making any sort of retirement plans. Instead, he’ll hang up his gloves for good when he begins “training poorly” and loses the drive to grind daily in the gym.
“It definitely won’t be any retirement now,” Teixeira said. “Someone asked me back then, ‘Do you think one more fight, and then defend your belt at Madison Square Garden [and retire]?’ I said ‘Who knows.’ If this weekend, especially what happened to me, hasn’t taught me anything… I never make plans for the future. I live in the present. I don’t have such plans, ‘I’ll retire at that date.’ The day I retire will be the day I’m training poorly, when I don’t want to go to the gym anymore.
“I had moments like that back in the day. I was dealing with injuries, I was down. When I lost to Corey Anderson I thought, ‘F***, I’ll fight one more and if I lose, I’ll retire.’ But then I was happy again, new gym, changing a few things and being happy as f***. I love to be training and fighting. You saw my last fight, the one with Jiri. We see the level I’m fighting. It’s intense. My fight is intense and that’s why people can’t keep up with it.”
Teixeira Said the UFC Called Him Right After the UFC 282 Headliner Ended
Teixeira was in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for the UFC 282. And Teixeira said he received a call from the UFC right after the light heavyweight title tilt was ruled a split-draw. He went backstage and got the Jamahal Hill fight “done”
“I thought, what about me?” Teixeira said when asked about his immediate reaction to the split-draw. “Who am I fighting now? There’s no champion. But I didn’t think too much about it. I was cool. They called me right after and took me to a meeting room backstage and we got it done. It was quick. [UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell] asked me if I was down to fighting Jamahal Hill for the belt in Brazil and I said, ‘Sure, talk to the managers and we’ll get it done. Let’s go.”
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