After beating Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 it seems the UFC has already decided what’s next for Jan Blachowicz.
With a long and successful MMA career, Glover Teixeira has been done plenty to deserve a shot at the light heavyweight title. Unfortunately, that opportunity didn’t present itself this past weekend.
As the consensus rightful next contender for the 205lb title, Teixeira had to step aside to make way for middleweight champ Israel Adesanya to make the move up and challenge for that strap. Adesanya fell short of his goal, and Blachowicz put on an impressive and inspired performance. But all of this left Old Man Glover out in the cold.
While many fans were happy to see another champ vs champ fight, it was hard not to feel for Teixeira. The 41-year-old Brazilian had spent a good portion of his career unable to fight in the United States and finally made it to the UFC. After a lot of hype, he was introduced as a talented fighter with a ton of veteran savvy that made his way to a title fight against then-champion Jon Jones.
After some ups and downs, his recent success has led to a five-fight win streak and a #1 spot in the light heavyweight division rankings. He even weighed in as a backup for UFC 259’s main event. While he was not needed in this situation, he still wants to make that fight happen as soon as possible and UFC president Dana White is totally on board with that for now. At the UFC 259 post-fight press event, he was very clear about what he wants to see next.
“Glover is (next) – 100 percent,”
This may be music to Glover’s ears, but there’s one hurdle left. Medical suspensions have come back for the recent event and have got current champ Jan Blachowicz on the shelf for six months.
It’s good that the division is heading in a direction that’s closer to normal and that the rightful next contender be the new challenger for the belt. It’s also great that management appears to share this view and is attempting to schedule this bout as soon as it can happen.
It may be a while before that takes place, but at least the pieces are falling into place and Glover can get another crack at that title that has eluded him up until now. With Adesanya out of the picture, there’s no other shiny object for the UFC to be distracted by that could prevent this matchup from taking place yet again.