Newly-crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira is expected to make his first 205-pound title defense against streaking division bruiser Jiri Prochazka. While nothing is official at this time, the Brazilian is targeting a May 2022 return.
And he plans to have former Strikeforce champ Muhammad Lawal by his side.
That’s because “King Mo” is the last person to defeat the 29 year-old Prochazka, a thunderous first-round knockout that sent “Denisa” crashing to the canvas at the Rizin Fighting Federation “Iza no Mai” year-end event back in Dec. 2015.
“I talked with Mo because (Prochazka) was a backup for the (Jan Blachowicz) fight. Mo called me, we talked a little bit about it,” Teixeira told Sherdog.com. “Maybe I’ll bring Mo to my camp, you know? It will be a good possibility, I’m good friends with Mo. Not just that, Jiri is a very awkward striker but very fast with his movements, very good technique. But also he opens up a lot, and I think that’s how King Mo got him. He comes crazy like that. He also leaves himself open for a god punch to connect.”
Prochazka avenged his Lawal loss by stopping “King Mo” at Rizin 15 in April 2019.
Teixeira (33-7) captured the light heavyweight title with a submission victory over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267 last October, part of an incredible six-fight winning streak with five finishes. Not too shabby for a 42 year-old veteran with 20 years in the fight game.
Following his loss to Lawal, Prochazka (28-3-1) won his next 12 fights, including back-to-back knockout victories over former light heavyweight title contenders Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes, the latter of which punched his ticket to a 2022 title fight.
Much to the chagrin of this salty contender.