Following his victory over Thiago Santos, Glover Teixeira argued that he should not have to wait to receive a title shot at new champion Jan Blachowicz, and the boss was listening.
At UFC on ESPN+40, Glover Teixeira earned his fourth consecutive victory with a third-round submission of Thiago Santos via rear-naked choke. Teixeira continues to defy skeptics, oddsmakers, and Father Time himself with one victory after another, this time over #1-ranked light heavyweight contender Thiago Santos. At 41 years of age, Glover Teixeira does not have much time left in this sport, which makes his window for a world title shot much smaller than the typical top contender. This is a fact that Teixeira directed towards UFC boss Dana White after his victory.
“Dana White, come on man, I’m an old man over here,” Teixeira said in his post-fight interview. “You’re going to give the shot to Adesanya and make me wait? Five fights in a row, beating these young guys. It’s not easy. Give me that title shot.”
In the UFC on ESPN+40 post-fight show, Dana White had the opportunity to respond to Teixeira’s remarks, and he had to concede to Teixeira’s argument:
“He’s not wrong,” White said. “It’s like ‘I deserve this shot,’ he’s been here forever, he’s on a streak. He looked great tonight.
“What’s funny is every time I count this guy out and think that I don’t know if he’s got it, he proves me wrong. He looked incredible tonight.”
Headed into UFC on ESPN+40, Dana White committed to a light heavyweight bout between champion Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya, so even though Dana White admits that Teixeira’s argument is without holes, that does not necessarily mean it will translate to an immediate title shot.
“It’s something we need to figure out,” White said. “But I heard him and I agree with him and I’m taking him serious. I’m not going to doubt this guy anymore.”
If you were the UFC president, who would you make the first challenger for Jan Blachowicz’s light heavyweight championship? Israel Adesanya or Glover Teixeira?
