Thiago Santos vs. Glover Teixeira Preview, Odds, Prediction

Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira, the two Brazilian MMA superstars, are meeting in the main event of the UFC on ESPN+ 40. Some simply call this event UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Teixeira, but to be honest, it doesn’t matter. The two excellent fighters and former challengers in the light heavyweight division are going to clash and decide who meets Jan Blachowicz. After the Pole won the vacated belt, the UFC figured out that his first title defense should be against one of these two guys. That is the plan, at least, per various sources. 

Preview

Santos (-220) was inches away from defeating Jon Jones last year at the UFC 239. He lost after a split decision, which was pretty controversial. Many had, and still have, the opinion that the scores have been rigged, and that “Marreta” as the fans call Santos back in Brazil, in fact, won this contest.

Up until that moment, he was on a four-match winning streak, defeating Keving Holland, Eryk Anders, Jimi Manuwa, and Jan Blachowicz. We need to say until UFC 239, Santos had 8 wins over nine events. The only loss was against David Branch, but other victories were against Anthony Smith, Jack Hermansson, Gerald Meerschaert, and Jack Marchman. So, a pretty good resume, we need to say. 

Marreta is a fabulous puncher, one of the most attractive to watch, as his left hook literally puts people to sleep. Blachowicz knows that the best, as he experienced it during their battle in Prague. The former middleweight is a ferocious puncher even though he is a bit smaller than other rivals in the division, but also much quicker. 

Teixeria (+280) is much different than his countryman. Glover likes to grapple, is much closer to the heavyweights than the middleweight, and he isn’t that fast. Still, they have a similarity, and that is a loss against Jones in the title matches. Teixeira also suffered a defeat after a decision; only his was unanimous. 

Two years ago, he lost to Corey Anderson and was on the downhill, with 39 years. Many saw that as the end of his UFC career, but Glover was back despite all the odds. He submitted Karl Roberson, Ion Cutelaba; the beat Nikita Kyrilov via split decision before knocking out Anthony Smith, who was badly beaten in that event.

Teixeira is a guy whose grappling knowledge is among the best in the organization. Once getting the rival on the canvas, it is very hard to escape his grip. He is strong, with excellent stamina, and these are the two most important factors for a grappler. 

Prediction

As always, when there is a clash of two different styles of fighting, we expect an interesting scenario. Glover is cautious, and so will be Santos, because he hasn’t fought in more than a year. Marreta will be circling around Teixeira, trying to stay out of his reach, looking to avoid close battle, while on the other side, Glover won’t be aggressive right from the start. 

Due to these factors, betting on the fight to last for at least four rounds, that is not to see the ending before the finish of the third, is our pick here. Odds on that are +120, which is our final call here.