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By 2019, Glover Teixeira had lost two of his last three fights. The former UFC light heavyweight title contender had begun to consider whether it was time to call her career and retire. Then something happened to the Brazilian where everything started clicking. He scored four straight wins by heading to his main UFC Fight Night event against Thiago Santos number 1. Not many gave Teixeira a chance to win and he was a significant underdog who threw himself into the fight.
41-year-old Teixeira didn’t get the reminder he should have lost with heavy Santos. Though contestant # 3 was knocked out and nearly finished on two occasions, Teixeira used her grappling superior to bring Santos down and sink into a back choke submission in round three to extend her winning streak to five.
“His nickname is ‘Sledgehammer’,” Teixeira said in her post-fight interview from UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nev. “I’m telling you that every punch this guy throws is a hammer. It’s amazing to fight with him.”
Santos came out looking for the finish line from the opening bell. He dropped Teixeira with a stinging right hook and immediately followed him to the mat and threw a flurry of hard dirt and punch shots to try to finish off his Brazilian partner. However, Teixeira remained composed, found a leg to reverse with a takedown, and dumped Santos with his own shots.
Teixeira (32-7) wasted no time in the second round. Santos threw a couple of shots before Teixeira sent him back to the canvas. From there, Teixeira choked Santos, uncorking the shots and not giving him room to breathe. Teixeira had the opportunity to finish things off with a naked rear choke with seconds remaining, but she ran out of time.
Coming out for the third round, you can see Santos was exhausted. Immediately, Teixeira went for another takedown. This time Santos filled the attempt, which gave him a sign of life. He blew Teixeira with a left hook to send him back to the mat. Thinking this was his chance to get rid of Teixeira, Santos dumped his gas tank, throwing every punch with bad intentions. But Teixeira showed the heart of a champion and survived the storm. He was able to reverse the stance and get Santos back. Teixeira seized the moment and froze in the bare rear choke. With no means to escape, Santos had no choice but to beat hard.
Typically, getting five straight wins would mean a title shot in the future. But last week, UFC president Dana White said middleweight champion Israel Adesanya would get a crack with 205-pound titlist Jan Blachowicz. Despite the news, that didn’t stop Teixeira from pleading for the opportunity.
“Dana White, come on mate, I’m an old man here,” Teixeira said with a smile. “You’re going to give it the shot [Israel] Adesanya and make me wait? Five fights in a row, beating these young guys. It’s not easy. Give me that photo for the title. “
In the co-main event, former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski went on to challenge his father’s time to beat Tanner Boser by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). The history of the fight has been contested on his feet, with Arlovski controlling the distance and connecting on the most massive shots to secure streak wins and winning three of his last four.
UFC Fight Night: Santos vs Teixeira Fight Card Results
Main card
- Glover Teixeira def. Thiago Santos via submission (naked rear choke) at 1:49 of the third round.
- Andrei Arlovski def. Tanner Boser by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
- Raoni Barcelos def. Khalid Taha by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27.)
- Giga Chikadze def. Jamey Simmons by TKO at 3:51 of the first round.
- Yan Xiaonan def. Claudia Gadelha by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Preliminary card
- Trevin Giles def. Bevon Lewis via TKO at 1:26 of the third round.
- Alexandr Romanov def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima for submission (arm choke) at 4:48 of the first round.
- Darren Elkins def. Eduardo Garagorri via submission (naked rear choke) at 2:22 on the third lap.
- Max Griffin def. Ramiz Brahimaj by TKO at 2:03 of the third round TKO.
- Gustavo Lopez def. Anthony Birchak via submission (bare back choke) at 2:43 of the first round.
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