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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title contender, Glover Teixeira, is on a mission to slug his way back into a 205-pound title fight, and believes the means to that end is a victory over No. 3-ranked contender Jan Blachowicz.
“In my opinion, I’m looking forward to fighting for the title,” Teixeira told MMA Junkie. “I want to fight Jan Blachowicz because we’re both coming from – I mean, I come from four wins in a row, I believe he coming from four, five wins in a row something like that and who am I to say who’s going to fight next?”
Teixeira (31-7) has captured four straight, including last May’s technical knockout victory over Anthony Smith. Blachowicz (26-8), meanwhile, is the winner of three in a row and recently pasted Corey Anderson at UFC Rio Rancho back in February.
The Brazilian is facing stiff competition from fellow contenders Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos. “The Devastator” and “Marreta” are both coming off razor-thin losses to division kingpin Jon Jones and have spent the better part of 2020 pining for rematches.
“Those guys had their chance,” Teixeira said. “They went in there, they fought for the title and they lost and they gotta come back and we fight to get back in there again. You don’t get rematches for a title unless you’re the champion.”
The light heavyweight division is still in a state of flux following Jon Jones recent decision to vacate the title. The promotion has yet to make an official announcement on the future of the 205-pound strap, but the assembly line will eventually have to start moving again, with or without “Bones.”
Teixeira vs. Blachowicz … who wants it?