Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Glover Teixeira has a chance to lay claim to some UFC record book fame if he can pick up a finish over Thiago Silva at their UFC Vegas 13 event on Saturday.
Had Glover Teixeira been able to join the UFC back in 2007, this record would probably already be well in hand.
Teixeira’s first nine professional bouts took place in the United States. He went 7-2 in those contests. He left the States voluntarily on a five-fight winning streak, to get a visa issue sorted out. Teixeira thought the process would be quick. It took four years.
When Teixeira returned to America, he went on another five-fight winning streak, this time in the UFC. The run ended with a loss to Jon Jones, at the height of the LHW great’s first championship run.
In his eight fights after the loss to Jones, Teixeira went 5-3. Then, in 2019, things once again clicked for the veteran fighter. From January 2019 through May 2020, Teixeira went 4-0 with three stoppage wins. He earned two fight-night bonuses during that stretch.
Overall, in his nineteen fights and eight years with the promotion, Santos has racked up 11 finishes—with five of those coming by way of submission. Those eleven finishes have him tied with OSP for the overall record in the division’s history. Picking up one more would have him standing all alone atop the weight class.
Likewise, Glover is also currently in a five-way tie with Jon Jones, Misha Cirkunov, Paul Craig, and (once again) Ovince St. Preux for most light heavyweight wins by submission. So if he can get the tap from Santos on Saturday night, he’ll lay claim to not just one piece of history, but two.
On Saturday he’ll look to put together his second UFC five-fight winning streak when he faces another former 205-pound title challenger, Thiago Santos, in the main event of UFC Vegas 13.
Santos has not fought since he took Jones the distance in July 2019. Not only did Santos go five-full rounds with Jones, but he took one of the scorecards, dropping a split decision to the then-champ.
Santos vs. Teixeira takes place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Here is where Teixeira stands in the UFC all-time light heavyweight record book.