Glover Teixeira is looking to be the backup fighter to Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya at UFC 259.
After Teixeira defeated Thiago Santos, many thought the Brazilian should fight Blachowicz for the belt. However, the UFC wanted to book a champ-champ fight against Adesanya and now Teixeira is on the sidelines.
Since the fight has been made, many wondered if Teixeira would take another fight in the meantime. However, he hopes the UFC will bring him to the event as the backup fighter in case anything happens to either man.
“Of course,” Teixeira told MMA Fighting when asked if he would agree to be a backup fighter in March. “I’ll be rooting for… [laughs] It sucks, I’ve never rooted for anyone to get hurt, but I’ll be rooting for an injury there [laughs].
“I just got back from vacation, so I’ll talk to [my manager] ‘Joinha’ [Jorge Guimaraes] and see what we’ll do, but [being a backup fighter] is a possibility,” Teixeira added. “I would have to do a full camp so, even if I have to wait, at least I did a camp, I won’t lose rhythm. Like you said, COVID is complicated, you really have to pull out if you catch it.”
For now, Glover Teixeira will be paying close attention to the fight and admits it is better for him is Jan Blachowicz wins. If Adesanya wins, the Brazilian has no clue when the light heavyweight title would be defended as he believes “The Last Stylebender” would go back down to middleweight.
