Glover Teixeira may have lost his title shot, but he’s not going to sit around and cry about it.
The Brazilian has been out of action since UFC 275 in June. Teixeira headlined the event in his first title defense against Jiri Prochazka, and the pair put on a classic. The fight was back and forth for five rounds until ‘Denisa’ locked up a submission in the final frame to earn the win.
While the defeat was a crushing one for the veteran, he wasn’t down for long. Following the loss, Teixeira called for an immediate rematch. Prochazka later echoed the sentiment, and the UFC agreed the second bout was the way to go.
The promotion set the light-heavyweight title rematch for UFC 282 next month. However, plans were derailed last week. After Prochazka suffered a brutal shoulder injury, he vacated the title. The UFC then bumped Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev to the headlining spot, complete with the 205-pound title on the line.
Glover Teixeira was naturally upset about the fight announcement, as he stated on The MMA Hour. The former champion was willing to face either man, but with more preparation time needed for Ankalaev. However, the promotion opted to go in a different direction.
While losing a title shot is a bummer, the Brazilian is already plotting his next move. In the interview, Teixeira revealed his plans to attend UFC 282, and fight the winner of the main event next.
“No [the UFC hasn’t reached out since the fight announcement], not really man,” stated Teixeira on The MMA Hour. “I have the ticket to go with Alex [Pereira] to Vegas next week, hang out with him, maybe go to the fights. I have a lot of people coming from Hawaii, Brazil, a lot of people cancel their ticket and flight. But a few people still going, so I’m going to go over there and meet a lot of my good friends.”
He continued, “Yeah, that’s the plan [to attend the fight]. It’s not weird, I live in the moment man. I don’t let those things bother me, you know? I was upset, of course I was upset for the moment, I felt disrespected… But what am I going to do? Sit home and cry about it? Be depressed in my room?”
“So, I’m going to go over there and attend the fights. Hopefully I fight the winner of those two guys. So, I’ll be able to sit there and watch both of those guys going at it, and hopefully I fight the winner.”
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