Glover Teixeira blames weight loss error for poor performance at UFC Rio

Teixeira was dominated in three rounds by Davis. Photo: Disclosure/Inovafoto

The fan who closely followed UFC Rio 5, held at the end of last month, may have been surprised by the lower-than-expected performance on the part of Glover Teixeira, who did little in the three rounds of his fight against Phil Davis.

A few days after his second consecutive defeat within the UFC, the Brazilian explained the reason for his apathetic performance. He says he made a mistake with his weight loss strategy for his fight, which he considers to be a lack of professionalism on his part.

“That's definitely what stopped me from being the usual Glover. I don't know if the result of the fight would be different, but everyone who has seen me fight knows that I didn't fight like I normally did. I know it was slow, soft. What caused this was weight loss. And also recovery. I gained a lot of weight after the fight against Jon Jones [in April]. I injured my shoulder, thought I was going to have surgery, and lost focus on my diet. But my shoulder got better, thank God, sooner than I expected. Unfortunately, I made a big mistake, which wasn't professional on my part, which was going up so much weight. I made weight, but I think it cost me the fight [against Davis]. Now it’s time to get back 100% and maintain the diet”, explained the Brazilian fighter, in an interview with the “Combate” channel website.

Precisely because he already knew what went wrong in his preparation, Glover stated that he would like to have another opportunity to face the North American. “I would definitely like to fight against Phil Davis. He's choking. I would really like a rematch against him”, said Teixeira.

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