Prior to his title fight against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 275, Glover Teixeira had appeared to be flirting with the idea of retiring by the end of the year, but despite his fifth round submission loss the former champion has now doubled down on his post-fight decision not to hang up his gloves just yet.
“That fight got me fired up, because I really f-cking (fought) well,” the 42-year-old Teixeira told AGfight. “I was messing him up until that moment (when he got the choke). I just need to focus on what I know, the things that are working in my training sessions. My gas is good, my technique is good. Mistakes are part of it.
“I’ll stop when I don’t feel like doing it anymore. I’m hungry to fight again, though. To have a rematch. This is the kind of fight every fighter needs, because it lights a fire under you.”
Teixeira’s late tap-out to Prochazka no doubt haunts him as scorecards showed that up to that point he had been on course to win a decision, with two of the three judges having had him in the lead going into the fifth round, and the other seeing it even, while the Brazilian veteran had got the better of the action for most of the final stanza up until the finish.
Given that it was also a great fight it gives Teixeira some weight behind his call for an immediate rematch, but the UFC may have other plans for the exciting new titleholder, with the likes of Jan Blachowicz, Aleksander Rakic, Magomed Ankalaev and Anthony Smith among the other leading contenders who are eager to get that opportunity.
