It took seven years and 15 fights for Glover Teixeira to secure another crack at UFC gold when he challenged Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title in the main event of Saturday's UFC 267.
Teixeira dominated from the opening bell using his ground work and striking that ultimately resulted in tapping out Blachowicz to win via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 3:02 mark of the second round to claim the UFC light heavyweight championship from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The win makes the 42-year-old Teixeira the second oldest fighter (Randy Couture at 43) to win a UFC belt.
"I'm breaking the rules, and I'm going to keep breaking the rules," Teixeira said in a post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier about winning the belt at 42.
Teixeira (33-7) used pressure to stay inside of Blachowicz and not let the Polish slugger get room to unload a heavy punch. Not giving Blachowicz space allowed him to net a takedown about one minute into the fight. Teixeira gave Blachowicz no room to breathe as he kept his body on top of Blachowicz, grinding him away and landing left hands when he saw an opening.
Blachowicz (28-9) looked to gain an advantage early in the second round as he started to connect on heavy shots with both hands. But Teixeira withstood it. Blachowicz and Teixeira threw left hooks simultaneously, but it was the latter's whose landed first. The blow buckled Blachowicz, which gave Teixeira the opening he needed to make history.
Blachowicz had his back against the cage and went for Teixeira's arm. That mistake led Teixeira to grab a leg and getting a single-leg takedown. After a quick scramble, Teixeira flattened Blachowicz on the mat, secured the choke, and the native of Poland tapped out instantly.
While he was celebrating, Teixeira was already looking ahead to his likely next title defense as top contender Jiri Prochazka was sitting cageside.
"Come up here buddy, you next," Teixeira said to Prochazka.
Here is what happened at UFC 267.