Plenty of fight fans were a a little upset when it was announced the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, would be facing current Light Heavyweight king, Jan Blachowicz, in the Polish bomber’s first-ever title defense at UFC 259 on March 6, 2021.
And it had nothing to do with not wanting to see “The Last Stylebender” attempt to become the promotion’s latest “champ-champ.” It had more to do with the fact that Glover Teixeira — a true 205-pound fighter who is on a fie fight win streak — was passed over for the title fight against Blachowicz.
But if things take a turn for the worse in he next couple of weeks all the way leading up until fight night, Teixeira could get his title fight after all.
That’s because according to a report from MMA Fighting, “Hands of Stone” has been pegged as a backup fighter for the Light Heavyweight title fight. According to Teixiera, he is currently training and will even weigh in on the Friday prior to the event.
It’s been common practice for the promotion to enlist the services of a worthy backup to cut weight and serve as an emergency replacement in order preserve a legit headlining act for a big pay-per-view (PPV) card. That’s just what Michael Chandler did when he made the trip to “Fight Island” to serve as backup for the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Dustin Poirier bout at UFC 254 last October.
Chandler was paid an undisclosed sum for his efforts, so it’s safe to say Teixeira will be compensated, as well, even if he doesn’t get the chance to fight.
UFC 259 will also feature a women’s Featherweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Megan Anderson as the co-headliner, while Petr Yan defends his Bantamweight title against Aljamain Sterling to round out the trio of championship bouts.