Glover Teixeira Defeats Thiago Santos, Wants a Shot at Blachowicz

Once again, Glover Teixeira came back from the verge of being defeated, to post a big win. The Brazilian veteran beat his compatriot, Thiago “Marreta” Santos, in the main event of the UFC on ESPN+ 40.

Teixeira (32-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) won via submission in the third round, at 1:49 of the same, but was walking on a razor’s edge a couple of times, with Santos(21-8 MMA, 13-7 UFC) being on the surge.

The first time that happened was in the opening round, as Santos, known for his hard punches, struck for a few times sending Glover down, putting him in a tough situation. It was the same in the third round, only Teixeira, at that point, had momentum from the second round, and wanted to finish the rival quickly. Then again, we saw Marreta’s powerful strikes that dazzled the older Brazilian in the octagon.

Glover Teixeira gets the third-round finish and is now riding a 5️⃣ fight win streak!

✅ Karl Roberson
✅ Ion Cutelaba
✅ Nikita Krylov
✅ Anthony Smith
✅ Thiago Santos#UFCVegas13 pic.twitter.com/acfjtv3Fwx

— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) November 8, 2020

Somehow, Teixeira survived all this to stand up again, then score a takedown against a tired opponent and finish him via rare-naked choke.

“His nickname is ‘Sledgehammer,'” Teixeira said. “Thiago ‘Sledgehammer’ — ‘Marreta’, said the winner following the event.” . Let me tell you, every punch this guy throws is like a sledgehammer. I don’t know, man. I might have a broken bone in my face right now.”

Teixeira, one of the best grapplers in the entire organization, was constantly trying to take the fight down to the ground, and in most cases, he would do that. Throughout the second round, Glover was dictating the tempo and was dominant due to his grappling superiority. If it weren’t for the belt to mark the end of the sequence, Teixeira would probably solve the matters earlier, as he got Santos in a bad position.

Marreta was waiting for a chance to inflict his ferocious punches, which happened early on in the first, once he shook the rival pretty badly. Santos unleashed a rain of punches onto Teixeira who was looking helpless and had to fight for his life, but he somehow managed to stay in the fight.

As time went by, it was obvious that Santos’ physical shape is not at the level it used to be. He was breathing heavily, his mobility was far from the expected level, and he couldn’t perform on the ground. There is no doubt that a one-year period outside the ring left a massive trace on his performance, and that Santos has a long way to come before reaching back to his previous level of fight, once he went toe to toe with Jon Jones.

He will also need to dig deep into the division before earning another title shot. The light heavyweight is loaded with potential with several names, which are definitely going to be on his way to the top.

"Dana White, come on man, you gonna give this shot to Adesanya and make me wait? 5 fights in a row, beating these young guys is not easy. Give me that title shot!" – @gloverteixeira 🏆#UFCVegas13 pic.twitter.com/MmObJ0o9Ku

— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) November 8, 2020

As for Teixeira, the 41-year old hopes to get his second chance to win the title. Right now, he has five wins in a row, two latest against the guys who were challengers.

“Dana White, come on man, you gonna give this shot to Adesanya and make me wait? 5 fights in a row, beating these young guys is not easy. Give me that title shot!” he said during the post-match interview.

Some of the UFC experts already stated earlier that this fight would decide the next challenger of the UFC light heavyweight champ, Jan Blachowicz. The Pole earned his belt against Dominick Reyes and is now allegedly searching for a way to meet with the middleweight champ, Israel Adesanya.