Glover Teixeira remains hopeful that he will receive a title shot following his victory over Thiago Santos last weekend.
Following his upset over Thiago Santos at UFC on ESPN+40, Glover Teixeira immediately began lobbying for a world title shot. Unfortunately for Teixeira, he was unable to have a face-to-face meeting with Dana White to plead his case directly. Nevertheless, Teixeira believes his victory Saturday night speaks for itself and that it is world champions Israel Adesanya and Jan Blachowicz who are the ones with something to prove in their divisions before meeting one another.
“I think I proved a point in here,” Teixeira told ESPN recently. “I’m the number one contender now. It’s kind of upsetting for Adesanya to come in and jump right in line. I think Adesanya is new at 185 still, Blachowicz is new at 205. Look, it seems that if there’s a super fight, it shouldn’t be now. They need to build up to this. Defend the belt a couple of times for Blachowicz. That’s against me, I guess. Defend the belt against me.”
Jan Blachowicz won the light heavyweight championship two months ago at UFC 253 and is expected to fight again in March. This is a long wait for 41-year-old Glover Teixeira, so waiting even more months while watching Israel Adesanya receive a light heavyweight title shot is not something Teixeira can afford. He does not have the luxury of time on his side, and he’s done all he could to reserve the first place in line to challenge Jan Blachowicz. And even without that private conversation with the boss, Teixeira expects Dana White to make the right decision, so he is remaining optimistic about his chances of getting a title shot.
“I think Dana’s a business guy. He’s going to do (what’s good for) business. But I’m telling you this, he’s a fair man,” Teixeira said. “He’s a fair man. You know, I see some people complain about Dana. I’ve got no complaints about Dana man.
“I’ve been very positive that I might get the next shot. Blachowicz already said that he is willing to fight me. I heard that Adesanya is having complaints about timing. So I’m very confident, and haven’t been thinking about other things.”
Do you believe Dana White will give Glover Teixeira the first shot at Jan Blachowicz?
