Glover Teixeira would like the insight of Muhammed Lawal to help him overcome Jiri Prochazka in his first defense.
The UFC light heavyweight champion would like to acquire as much information on his next challenger as possible for his first title defense.
Expected to take on Jiri Prochazka in the first half of 2022, Glover Teixeira wants to know everything about ‘Denisa’ and would like the last man to beat the Czech to participate in his camp: Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal.
With Lawal having a knockout win over Prochazka back in December 2015, Teixeira wants to know exactly what holes King Mo took advantage of in Jiri’s game and how the champion could adapt that to his gameplan. Although Glover already believes Jiri takes a lot of risks in the Octagon, he figures it cannot hurt to have more intel on the challenger.
In an interview with Sherdog, Teixeira explained that the talk with Lawal dates back to his camp for the title fight against Jan Blachowicz, for which Prochazka was the official back-up man. However, Glover claims to still consider the idea and hopes King Mo accepts it.
“I talked with Mo because (Prochazka) was a backup for the fight,” Teixeira said. “Mo called me, we talked a little bit about it. 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. 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 good punch to connect.”
In his last outing, Teixeira became the new UFC light heavyweight champion by submitting then title-holder Blachowicz, in October. The win extended the 42-year-old’s streak to six straight, including wins over notable names such as Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith, among others. Glover’s last loss happened in July 2018, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Corey Anderson.
Ever since the loss to Lawal, which took place at the Rizin heavyweight Grand Prix finals, Prochazka was able to even the score in April 2019, at Rizin 15, when he scored a TKO victory over King Mo.
Although not yet confirmed, Teixeira is rumored to have his first title defense against Prochazka at the UFC 274 card, on May 7, in Rio de Janeiro. The event will mark the promotion’s return to Brazil after two years without shows in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.