Glover Teixeira says he is not thinking about retirement as he eyes a rematch with Jiri Prochazka.
Teixeira and Prochazka headlined UFC 275 in arguably the best fight of the year. The two went back and forth and both were close to finishing the fight on numerous occasions. In the end, with less than 30 seconds left in the fight, Prochazka sunk in a choke, and Teixeira tapped making Prochazka the new champ.
Since then, both men have talked about a potential rematch and for Teixiera, he believes the rematch will be a massive pay-per-view success.
“In terms of performance, I’m also upset with what happened. I had the perfect performance, was winning the fight and winning well, and I’m sad with the mistake I made. That’s why we have to do it again. It’s time to run it back. He has to realize that’s the fight everybody wants to see right now. Those who missed the first one will watch it now. It’s time for him to make money. He’ll make pay-per-view [money], he’s the champion. Not to mention that we did the talking inside the Octagon,” Teixeira said to MMAFighting. “I don’t need to talk a bunch of crap to try to promote this fight, to try to earn the rematch. I really want this rematch [to happen], but I don’t want to have to talk [crap] for it. Many people get lost trying to do it.
“Dana White has to look at this. Fans are asking for this rematch. I had a good performance the entire fight, only lost one round, and was dominating the fifth round. [Prochazka] is not happy with his performance? Do it again,” Teixeira added. “Let’s do it again, man. Let’s see who’s the best, because I know that’s still stuck in his throat, too, the way the victory was and people saying, ‘If it wasn’t for that [guillotine].’ It’s hard to hear that. ‘F***, he was losing that fight. How lucky he was.’ That wasn’t luck. He went for it and believed in the choke. I didn’t believe in it. I made a mistake. It’s time to do it again. That’s why I want a rematch. Promote it by saying we’ll come prepared to put on another show.”
Glover Teixeira says the loss has made him hungry as he is no longer thinking about retiring. Not only that, but the Brazilian says he would like the rematch to be in the Czech Republic as well.
“I said that [retiring] was a possibility, but no, man,” Teixeira said. “The goal is to get the belt again, and we have to defend it after we win it. It’s a matter of honor for the athlete. You can retire after defending it, like I said, but I have a different goal now. I didn’t believe I was going to lose it. I planned on winning, defending it again, and maybe [retiring after]. I never said it was definitive. I’m hungry to come back and train again. As long as I’m doing it well, I’ll continue [fighting].”
Would you like to see Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka 2?