Glover Teixeira showed why he’s one of the most feared men in the light-heavyweight division at UFC 153 tonight by handing a vicious beating to Fabio Maldonado who showed incredible resiliance to last two rounds with him.
Teixeira got off to the perfect start in this fight, dropping Maldonado in the opening moments with a flurry of strikes.
He then secures mount and lands some hard punches and elbows.
Then he looks for an arm-triangle on his oppoent who’s already taken quite a beating. He moves out to finish the move, but Maldonado is as tough as nails and isn’t for tapping, so Teixeira has to give up on it, though he goes back to mount.
Maldonado somehow manages to get back to his feet though, but his face is a mess and he’s on wobbly legs, using the cage to help maintain his balance.
He’s all heart though and rather than give up he finds the courage to go on the offensive, and he connects with a leaping left hook that has Teixeira on shaky legs.
Maldonado lands again and Teixeira is no doubt thankful to hear the bell for the end of the round.
Teixeira starts the second round by securing a takedown. Maldonado gets back to his feet though and tries to work some offense before being taken down again.
Teixeira briefly has his back, then into mount. Slow but sure ground and pound follows and Maldonado’s already battered face is bleeding from what maybe a fresh cut.
The referee stands them after a while and as he gets up Maldonado appears to wince, perhaps from blood in his eye and that causes a stoppage so the doctor can check him out.
Maldonado is adamant he wants to continue though and so onwards they go. More punches on the feet from Teixeira and still Maldonado remains in the fight, but he’s clearly hurt and the end of the round couldn’t come soon enough for him.
He looks wobbly as he heads back to his corner and the doctor is back in the cage taking a close look at him and quickly decides that enough is enough, and so Teixeira is awarded the TKO victory.
Impressive stuff from Teixeira, putting in a dominant performance here that puts him firmly on the map at 205lbs, but credit to Maldonado as well for his exceptional toughness and heart.
