Former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira is upset that he won’t have the opportunity to recapture his 205-pound belt next month at UFC 282.
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole broke the news on Wednesday that Jiri Prochazka had suffered a shoulder injury and was subsequently removed from the December 10 title clash with Teixeira. Further, Iole reported that Prochazka’s belt had been vacated and that Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev would compete for the strap, leaving Teixeira the odd man out.
Teixeira spoke with SUPER LUTAS after the news broke, and the Brazilian said in Portuguese that the UFC offered him a title fight with Ankalaev. But, because he didn’t cater his camp to Ankalaev’s skillset, Teixeira wanted to push the contest to January during Brazil’s UFC 283.
The promotion wasn’t interested, however. There are no other championship matches scheduled for UFC 282, which was likely the UFC’s ultimate reasoning behind not wanting to move the match to Brazil.
Teixeira also said that he shared an interest in rematching Blachowicz — who he fought and beat to win the belt at UFC 267 in October 2021 — at UFC 282 instead, but that proposal was declined as well. Then, they moved on to Blachowicz versus Ankalaev.
Teixeira Said UFC Offered Him the New Fight the Same Day News Broke About the Prochazka
“I’ve just heard about this, maybe one hour ago,” Glover said to the outlet (translated by Bloody Elbow). “They had offered me Ankalaev because Jiri was injured. Since he has a totally different style, and we’ve been doing a training camp for Jiri for months, I asked for more time. I asked them to make the fight in Brazil. I told them I’d fight Ankalaev in Brazil, just so I could have a few more weeks to make a camp specifically for that guy.
“I’m 43 years old. I rely on my strategies so I can have a perfect fight and I really want to bring this belt back to Brazil. I think I’ve earned it. They told me the fight had to be in Vegas, so I told them I’d fight Jan in Vegas, because I have trained for his style before. They said ‘You’ve already beaten Blachowicz and he’s 39 years old’. I was like ‘Are you kidding me? I’m 43.’”
‘Disrespected’ Teixeira Confirmed That He Will ‘Wait’ to Fight the Winner of the UFC 282 Main Event
So, the 43-year-old legend will sit on the sidelines until the UFC 282 main event plays out and the division crowns a new champion. However, that doesn’t mean Teixeira doesn’t feel “a little disrespected” with how the whole situation played out.
“I’m going to wait,” Teixeira continued. “I’m probably the number one contender. I’ll face the winner of this fight. The UFC hasn’t told me anything, but it’s obvious, right? Myself, Jiri and Jan, those are the three who were at the top in the title mix. Ankalaev is here now, he was going to fight Jan in a title eliminator and the winner would face the winner of me against Jiri. Now I’m back in the line,”
“I felt a little disrespected,” Teixeira continued. “Given everything I’ve done for this company. I’m a bit sad about this whole situation. Why wouldn’t they let me fight Jan? It’s two old timers fighting again, but it would sell more than this Ankalaev fight. We’re two heavy-hitters. It would sell more for sure, no disrespect to Ankalaev. He’s just not that well-known here in America. Maybe he is in Russia, I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t understand these things that they do.”
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Glover Teixeira Gives Heated Response to UFC 282 Title Fight Falling Apart