Former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira and next month’s middleweight title challenger Alex Pereira recently battled each other in sparring. And Teixeira shared the video for the combat sports world to see.
The two Brazilians took it to each other while boxing at the ex-UFC champ’s Teixeira MMA & Fitness academy in Connecticut. Pereira is scheduled to fight Israel Adesanya for 185-pound gold at UFC 281 on November 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
For Teixeira, he’s anticipating a rematch with the man who took the strap from him in June, Jiri Prochazka. Although nothing has been confirmed, UFC president Dana White told the media in August that he planned to get the rematch “done.”
Watch the two prepare to compete at the top of the mountain via the embedded Instagram post below:
Pereira Is Undefeated as a UFC Fighter, Knocked Out Adesanya in Kickboxing
Pereira has known nothing but success inside the Octagon. “Poatan” (6-1) made his UFC debut in November 2021 when he starched Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268 via second-round TKO. He followed up the win by earning a unanimous decision over Bruno Silva in March and in July, Pereira catapulted himself up the middleweight ladder when he knocked out top-ranked contender Sean Strickland at UFC 276.
Considering Pereira holds two wins over Adesanya in kickboxing, including a knockout in 2017, Pereira became the next obvious choice to fight “The Last Stylebender.”
Besides a failed attempt at becoming a two-division champion, Adesanya has maintained a perfect record in mixed martial arts. He’s 23-1 as a professional, which includes five consecutive 185-pound title defenses.
His last victory came shortly after Pereira’s KO of Strickland. Adesanya headlined the July event against Jared Cannonier and earned a unanimous decision.
Although he was put out by Poatan, Adesanya doesn’t seem too concerned about that happening again. In a recent interview with Combat TV, The Last Stylebender rated Pereira’s threat level a six out of 10, seemingly dismissing Pereira’s effectiveness in mixed martial arts.
“Threat meter, to be honest, as an MMA fighter… I’ll give him a six, if I’m being honest,” Adesanya said (h/t Sportskeeda.com.) “Completely honest: threat meter six. There’s one thing he’s really good at. It’s that left hook and that’s what he catches many people with. He’s not going to catch me with a flying knee.”
Adesanya Said All He Needs to Do Is Avoid Pereira’s Left Hook
Adesanya reiterated that as long as he avoids Poatan’s left hook, he feels it’ll be smooth sailing during the five-round contest. “Left hook, that’s the main thing to look forward to,” Adesanya said in the interview. “Yeah, if I can take care of that, I can take care of everything else.”
The Last Stylebender also said he never planned on earning vengeance over Pereira. However, because the opportunity surfaced, the middleweight king plans to “slam this b****.”
“After he beat me in Brazil, I never had any plans of trying to get revenge or anything like that because I don’t hold on to things, I let go of things,” Adesanya said. “But again, I’m telling you, the universe has presented this to me and it’s right there. The perfect alley-oop, and I’m going to slam this b****.”
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Glover Texeira & Scary UFC Title Challenger Get Separated After Heated Sparring