Glover Teixeira is one step away from making history in Ultimate. The Brazilian, who had his fight against Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title (up to 93kg.) confirmed for the UFC 266 on September 4th, he can win the belt at the age of 41. In an exclusive interview with SUPER FIGHTS channel, he spoke about his preparation for the fight against the Pole and made a projection about his future.
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Despite measuring forces against Jan Blachowicz, Glover Teixeira makes a point of not belittling his opponent. He reveals, however, that he already has a strategy drawn up to defeat him and exposes gaps in the Pole's game.
“My game is about pressure all the time. I rely a lot on my cardio, my gas. It's always the strategy for my fight. And, of course, the floor is a path. I believe that Blachowicz will want to strike, but my strategy is to put him down and win”, said Glover.
At 41 years old, Glover reached his second title fight after recording a sequence of five consecutive victories in Ultimate. Asked about his change since the first clash against Jon Jones, in 2014, he stated that he needed to change his discipline so that he could become even longer in his career.
“Today I have greater discipline. I was fighting a lot of really tough guys, but I wasn't that disciplined. So, it was beer and barbecue off camera. Now, my period off is with another discipline and that makes a difference to my moment today (…) I'm very happy that there are many people willing to help me in the fight camp (…) I still haven't sat down with my coaches and we will start to focus more on the physical preparation and the technical part. But sparring, no. I will only do it when we are close to the fight to reduce the risk of injury. There isn't much of this 'science'. The thing is just to be careful not to overtrain and stay balanced and in shape,” said the Brazilian.
RETIREMENT? WHAT NOTHING…
Responsible for being one of the main Brazilian names in MMA today, Glover Teixeira says he doesn't think about a retirement date. At 41 years old, the Tupiniquim representative says he still feels good in training and does not deal with frequent injuries. Furthermore, he admits that he is already fulfilled by fighting at a high level and by his successful career.
"I have 41 years old. After this fight, I'm going to be 42. I'm blessed to be fighting my age at a high level. I know I won't have many fights in my career, but I don't have any injuries. I trained a lot my whole life, but I had no discipline, now everything has changed. Every fighter's dream is to win the belt. I 'already knocked on the door' against the Jon Jones, but I always believed that I would turn things around, even though there were ups and downs. And, at times, I even thought: 'Will I ever be able to fight for the belt again?' and now I've managed to score five victories in the last two years. It's an achievement. I am already fulfilled. But I'm not going to make a decision like that, because I still like training and I'm still learning”, he highlighted.
ADESANYA 'JUMPED THE QUEUE'
After submitting his compatriot in the third round, Thiago Marreta and jump into the top spot in the light heavyweight division, it seemed certain that Glover Teixeira would get his chance at the title. However, the competitor saw the middleweight champion (up to 83,9kg.) Israel adesanya 'jump the queue' and face Jan Blachowicz. Now, he reveals that he was betting on the Nigerian winning.
“I was very confident that the fight would happen. I beat No. 1 and I couldn't believe it. When I was fighting Marreta, I thought the next fight would be for the belt. And suddenly, Adesanya fought. (…) I thought he would win and I also said before that the way for Blachowicz was to take him down, but I didn't think he would do it, since Adesanya moves a lot. But Blachowicz did well, put him down easily and exposed his game a little”, he recalled.
INACTIVITY PERIOD
When he faces Blachowicz, Glover will have spent ten months without stepping into the Octagon. Still, the Brazilian rules out that he will enter the fight without rhythm, in addition to remembering that he continued training and placed himself as a 'reserve', in case either of them needed to withdraw from the card.
“I did an entire training camp (to be a backup for Blachowicz x Adesanya). So I was training my ass off. So, the body just didn't go to fight. We say: 'The guy hasn't fought for two years and he's out of rhythm', but he only runs out of rhythm if he doesn't train,” he concluded.
Professional since 2002, Glover Teixeira will have his 40th MMA fight against Jan Blachowicz. Currently, there are 32 wins and seven losses. Furthermore, the Brazilian occupies first place in the light heavyweight rankings, behind only the Pole.
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