Rashad Evans vs. Glover Teixeira Might Be Headlining UFC Fight Night 61 in Porto Alegre, Brazil


(Photo props: Ryan Loco)

Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans will return from a 15-month hiatus when he faces Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Fight Night 61, February 22nd at Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Or, maybe Evans vs. Teixeira won’t headline that card. The matchup was first reported by Globo today, but the problem is, Teixeira hasn’t been medically cleared to train:

Teixeira’s manager, Jorge Guimaraes, has called the report premature. Guimaraes says that Teixeira, who was medically suspended after his UFC 179 loss to Phil Davis, has yet to be cleared to return to competition by Brazil’s athletic commission.

“Glover hasn’t even been cleared to fight on that date yet by the athletic commission due to his injuries,” Guimaraes told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani.

Teixeira caught a 45-day medical suspension following UFC 179 on October 25th, which should be complete by now — so maybe he’s dealing with new injuries that we don’t know about. At any rate, Rashad Evans vs. Glover Teixeira seems like a somewhat necessary meeting between one fighter who hasn’t competed all of 2014 due to a knee injury, and another fighter who lost both his fights in 2014 after winning 20 straight.


(Photo props: Ryan Loco)

Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans will return from a 15-month hiatus when he faces Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Fight Night 61, February 22nd at Gigantinho Gymnasium in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Or, maybe Evans vs. Teixeira won’t headline that card. The matchup was first reported by Globo today, but the problem is, Teixeira hasn’t been medically cleared to train:

Teixeira’s manager, Jorge Guimaraes, has called the report premature. Guimaraes says that Teixeira, who was medically suspended after his UFC 179 loss to Phil Davis, has yet to be cleared to return to competition by Brazil’s athletic commission.

“Glover hasn’t even been cleared to fight on that date yet by the athletic commission due to his injuries,” Guimaraes told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani.

Teixeira caught a 45-day medical suspension following UFC 179 on October 25th, which should be complete by now — so maybe he’s dealing with new injuries that we don’t know about. At any rate, Rashad Evans vs. Glover Teixeira seems like a somewhat necessary meeting between one fighter who hasn’t competed all of 2014 due to a knee injury, and another fighter who lost both his fights in 2014 after winning 20 straight.

UFC Fight Night 61 will also feature a lightweight bout between Rustam Khabilov and Adriano Martins, and a middleweight scrap between Sam Alvey and Cezar Ferreira.