Glover Teixeira will be in attendance at UFC 259 as a backup fighter.
In the main event of the pay-per-view card on March 6, Jan Blachowicz will defend his light heavyweight title against Israel Adesanya. Although it is a massive fight, many fans believed Teixeira should’ve gotten the title shot. Yet, that was not the case but the Brazilian will weigh-in as the official backup fighter for the main event.
“I’ll be (the) backup and will have to go there and make weight,” Teixeira said over text message to MMAFighting.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Glover Teixeira be the backup fighter for the main event. In January he volunteered to be the backup fighter and it appears the UFC gave him his wish.
“Of course,” Teixeira told MMA Fighting when asked if he would agree to be a backup fighter in March. “I’ll be rooting for… [laughs] It sucks, I’ve never rooted for anyone to get hurt, but I’ll be rooting for an injury there [laughs].
“I just got back from vacation, so I’ll talk to [my manager] ‘Joinha’ [Jorge Guimaraes] and see what we’ll do, but [being a backup fighter] is a possibility,” Teixeira added. “I would have to do a full camp so, even if I have to wait, at least I did a camp, I won’t lose rhythm. Like you said, COVID is complicated, you really have to pull out if you catch it.”
Glover Teixeira is coming off a third-round submission win over Thiago Santos back in November. The 41-year-old Brazilian is on a five-fight winning streak with notable wins over Anthony Smith, and Nikita Krylov so he has no doubt cemented his case as the top contender at light heavyweight.
Regardless, of the result between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya, Glover Teixeira no doubt deserves the next title shot.
