Heading into 2019, Glover Teixeira had lost two of his last three fights. The former UFC light heavyweight title contender had started to consider whether it was time to call it a career and drift off into retirement. Then something happened to the Brazilian where it all began to click. He reeled off four straight victories heading into his UFC Fight Night main event against No. 1-ranked Thiago Santos. Not many gave Teixeira a shot to win and was a significant underdog heading into the fight.
The 41-year-old Teixeira didn't get the memo that he was supposed to lose to the heavy-handed Santos. Even though the No. 3-ranked contender got dropped and nearly finished on two occasions, Teixeira used his superior grappling to wear Santos down and sink in a rear-naked choke submission in the third round to extend his winning streak to five.
"His nickname is 'Sledgehammer'," Teixeira said in his post-fight interview from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nev. "I'm telling you every punch this guy throws is a sledgehammer. It's amazing to fight with him."
Santos came out looking for the finish from the opening bell. He dropped Teixeira with a stinging right hook and immediately followed him to the mat and throwing a barrage of hard ground and pound shots to try and finish his fellow Brazilian off. However, Teixeira stayed composed, found a leg to reverse position with a takedown and unloaded on Santos with his own strikes.
Teixeira (32-7) didn't waste any time in the second round. Santos threw a couple of strikes before Teixeira sent him back to the canvas. From there, Teixeira smothered Santos, uncorking shots and giving him no room to breathe. Teixeira had an opportunity to finish things off with a rear-naked choke with seconds remaining, but he ran out of time.
Coming out for the third round, you could see that Santos was exhausted. Immediately, Teixeira went for another takedown. This time around, Santos stuffed the attempt, which gave him a sign of life. He blasted Teixeira with a left hook to send him back to the mat. Thinking this was his chance to get rid of Teixeira, Santos unloaded his gas tank, throwing every punch with evil intentions. But Teixeira showed the heart of a champion and survived the storm. He was able to reverse position and get Santos' back. Teixeira seized the moment and locked in the rear-naked choke. With no means to escape, Santos had no choice but to tap out.
Typically, getting five consecutive victories would mean a title shot is in the future. But this past week, UFC president Dana White declared that middleweight champion Israel Adesanya would get a crack at 205-pound titlist Jan Blachowicz. Despite the news, it didn't stop Teixeira from calling for the opportunity.
"Dana White, come on man, I'm an old man over here," Teixeira said with a smile. "You're going to give the shot to [Israel] Adesanya and make me wait? Five fights in a row, beating these young guys. It's not easy. Give me that title shot."
In the co-main event, former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski continued to defy father time to beat Tanner Boser by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). The fight's story was contested on the feet, with Arlovski controlling the distance and connecting on the more massive shots to secure back-to-back victories and winner of three of his last four.
UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Teixeira fight card results
Main card
- Glover Teixeira def. Thiago Santos via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:49 of the third round.
- Andrei Arlovski def. Tanner Boser by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
- Raoni Barcelos def. Khalid Taha via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27.)
- Giga Chikadze def. Jamey Simmons by TKO at 3:51 of the first round.
- Yan Xiaonan def. Claudia Gadelha via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Preliminary card
- Trevin Giles def. Bevon Lewis via TKO at 1:26 of the third-round.
- Alexandr Romanov def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima by submission (arm choke) at 4:48 of the first round.
- Darren Elkins def. Eduardo Garagorri via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:22 of the third round.
- Max Griffin def. Ramiz Brahimaj by TKO at 2:03 of the third round TKO.
- Gustavo Lopez def. Anthony Birchak via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:43 of the first round.