Move over, Rampage. Glover Teixeira is here to stay.
With the heavy flow of trash talking leading up to the showdown between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Glover Teixeira, there was a lot of hype surrounding Saturday night’s card.
In what was likely Rampage’s last fight (via USA Today), Teixeira earned his 18th straight victory (three in the UFC) in a unanimous-decision win over Jackson, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.
He’s not well-known in the UFC realm as of yet, but following a big victory over one of UFC’s most-recognized fighters, Teixeira looks like he’s here to stay.
Teixeira used a multitude of body punches and uppercuts to down Jackson, who repeatedly taunted the Brazilian fighter.
Even after Teixeira handed Jackson the loss, MMA Junkie reports of the mutual respect between the two fighters, as Rampage reportedly told Teixeira to “Go get the title.”
Teixeira even took to Twitter to show his respect for Jackson:
UFC President Dana White also touched on Teixeira’s brilliant performance on Saturday night, as well as Rampage’s toughness (via MMA Junkie):
I honestly believe that tonight if Glover was fighting anyone else he would have knocked them out in the first round. Rampage’ got hit with that shot, and not only can he punch hard, he can take a punch.
Obviously Jackson is at the end of his career and isn’t the cream of the crop in the UFC, but Rampage entered this fight in great shape and was still no match for the Brazilian.
I’m obviously not going to dub Teixeira the new king of the UFC until I see him in the ring against Jon Jones, Chael Sonnen or Rashad Evans, but it’s hard to ignore how forceful Teixeira was on Saturday night.
The premier fight will be Teixeira versus Jones, but that won’t be happening anytime soon, as Jones is slated to fight Sonnen in April.
Nonetheless, Teixeira’s convincing win over Rampage helps prove his worth in the UFC world.
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