Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Unlike many of his peers in the business, Glover Teixeira has zero complaints about UFC president Dana White.
It’s not uncommon to hear complaints about Dana White and how he deals with fighters. Whether it’s a lower-ranked competitor or a former perennial champion, all of them have spoken up about some form of unfair treatment from the UFC boss.
Glover Teixeira, however, isn’t one of them. He is, in fact, going the exact opposite route.
“Dana’s a business guy. He’s gonna do (what’s good for the business),” Teixeira told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani in a recent interview. “But also, I’m telling you this: he’s a fair man. I see some people complain about Dana; I’ve got no complaints about Dana.”
What’s the basis for his statement? Seeing other UFC employees seemingly satisfied with their jobs created a strong, lasting impression on the 41-year-old light heavyweight contender.
“You look at the staff, the whole staff, from the security to the nutritionists, everybody. Everybody’s happy. They want to be there. They look like they want to be in the UFC,” Teixeira said.
“It’s so great to fight in the UFC because the whole staff, they treat you so well. The people are happy to work there. And that says a lot about Dana. He’s a big boss and people are happy to work for him.”
Teixeira notched his fifth straight win on Saturday when he submitted Thiago Santos in the third round of their main event fight. The victory makes him the next logical choice to challenge newly-crowned champion Jan Blachowicz for the title, and its something White also agrees with.
But if the UFC decides to go with their original plan of having Israel Adesanya as Blachowicz’s first challenger, Teixeira also understands.
“When it comes to business, Adesanya’s gonna make for sense for the UFC. But he knows I deserve that belt. I deserve the title shot.”
Blachowicz won’t be available to fight until March, which Teixeira says he’s also completely fine with.