Glover Teixeira believes that his protégé, Alex Pereira, will inevitably emerge victorious over UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jamahal Hill.
Pereira will be moving up to the light heavyweight division to take on former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 on July 29. A win for Alex Pereira may very well earn him a title opportunity at 185 pounds. Pereira already has the distinction of being a former UFC Middleweight Champion.
Glover Teixeira Backs Alex Pereira
Speaking to reporters following his grappling win over Anthony Smith at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4, Glover Teixeira expressed his belief that Alex Pereira would have great success against Hill (h/t MMAFighting).
“For sure, the style with Jamahal Hill and Alex, it’s perfect for Alex,” Teixeira explained. “Listen, Jamahal Hill is a great fighter, and Jan is a great fighter. We’re not looking past Jan over here like that. Styles make fights. My style was more grappling, and Jan is a tremendous striker. He beat Israel Adesanya and he was doing really good in the standup before he started going [for takedowns]. Jan is dangerous, he hits hard.
“But if everything goes to plan and Alex can get past Jan, for sure I think Jamahal Hill will be an amazing fight for Alex, and it would be nice to see revenge — nothing against Jamahal Hill, he’s a great guy as well, but yeah.”
Hill captured the UFC light heavyweight gold after defeating Teixeira via unanimous decision earlier this year. After the title fight, Teixeira announced his retirement from pro MMA competition. Hill won the fight in enemy territory, as the bout took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Hill’s first title challenger is up in the air, as former champion Jiří Procházka reportedly won’t be ready to return this summer.
