UFC commentator Daniel Cormier understands why Glover Teixeira isn’t fighting later this month.
The Brazilian has been out of action since UFC 275 in June. In that outing in Singapore, Teixeira looked to make his first title defense against Jiri Prochazka. The bout was a back-and-forth one, but it was ‘Denisa’ who emerged victorious thanks to a fifth-round submission.
Following the event, both fighters made their case for a rematch next. Despite the pleas of names such as Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev, the promotion set the second encounter for UFC 282. Sadly, fans will have to wait to see the rematch, if they get to see it at all.
The newly crowned champion reportedly suffered a brutal shoulder injury late last month and vacated his title. As a result, the UFC offered Teixeira an undisputed title bout against the aforementioned Ankalaev. The Brazilian agreed, but would need more time, and suggested postponing the fight to January.
Instead, the UFC decided to slide Jan Blachowicz into the main event. As a result, Glover Teixeira is the man left out, but Daniel Cormier understands the veteran’s position. In a recent edition of the DC and RC podcast, the commentator revealed he would’ve done the same thing.
“I believe that, honestly, I would do the same thing if I was Glover,” Cormier said on DC & RC. “It’s different. When I was fighting, they told me, as the champ, would you fight Derrick Lewis on three weeks’ notice? Knowing the matchup, I said, sure. Stipe Miocic, I would not have fought on three weeks’ notice, because it’s a different matchup. When I had to fight [Anthony] ‘Rumble’ Johnson for the vacant title, God rest his soul, sure, I’ll fight ‘Rumble’ Johnson. When they said Dan Henderson on a few weeks’ — six weeks, five weeks, whatever, I wasn’t in camp — sure, because I know the matchup.” (h/t MMAFighting)
He continued, “Glover Teixeira also understands that if you give him Jan Blachowicz, he’s fought him before, he’s done training camps for him before. Magomed Ankalaev is an unknown. Nobody really knows what this kid is, especially being that he’s so highly regarded. If he was just a young kid that nobody knew that wasn’t thought to be a future champion, I think anyone would jump at the opportunity to become champ, because again, we’re talking about a 43-year-old man who has been the UFC champion, who has fought the best of the best.”
While Glover Teixeira might have the support of ‘DC’, the Brazilian isn’t sitting around depressed about losing his title shot. He’s recently announced his plans to attend the pay-per-view and face the winner of the UFC 282 main event next.
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