Former light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira vows to make things different at UFC 282.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira will probably have his last chance to attain gold in the Octagon in December. Reportedly paired up against Jiri Prochazka for an immediate rematch at UFC 282, the Brazilian vows not to make the same mistakes that cost him the title.
In an interview with Ag Fight, Teixeira analyzed his performance in the first fight, attributing his fifth round defeat to a mistake in a fight he was winning up to that point. For that reason, Glover feels like he does not need to change his gameplan too much ahead of the rematch, though he promises to be more attentive.
“What I would do differently is I wouldn’t tap,” Teixeira said. “I wouldn’t get submitted. That fight went down my way, so the preparation (for the rematch) will be the same. Of course we’re going to make some adjustments, because he should come back better, too. That’s about it, though. If the fight goes down the same way, I’m going to be focused to not to fall into any traps. It was careless, really. Fifth round, I was winning the fight. Nobody expected a submission there. It was really careless.
“I’m going to be really focused, though,” Teixeira said. “My goal is to bring the belt back home. The gameplan was to take him down once every round and win that way. Prochazka was a great fighter on the ground. He showed great defense and that’s going to happen toboth of us. Next time it might even be a better fight, who knows?”
Before the loss to Prochazka, Teixeira (33-8) was on a six-fight winning streak, which included victories over some notable names in the division, such as Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and former champion Jan Blachowicz. The 42-year-old’s most recent defeat prior to Jiri took place in July 2018, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Corey Anderson.
Now, Teixeira is expected to take on Prochazka at UFC 282, on December, though the pairing has not yet been officially confirmed for the date. The card is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada.