It was expected that going into this Saturday's UFC Fight Night main event at the UFC Apex between No. 1-ranked Thiago Santos and No. 3-ranked Glover Teixeira, the winner would net a crack at new light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.
However, UFC president Dana White flipped the script, saying this past Saturday that middleweight titlist Israel Adesanya would be moving up to challenge Blachowicz. Santos and Teixeira look to change White's mind and put on a memorable performance.
Originally, Santos and Teixeira had been set to battle in September. But a week before the fight, Teixeira tested positive for the coronavirus and the bout was pulled and rescheduled for Oct. 4. The bout was postponed again when Santos tested positive.
Santos was set to make his return after being on the shelf after losing a close split decision to Jon Jones at UFC 239 in July 2019. The 36-year-old suffered a knee injury early on in the fight and ended up with a partially torn ACL, torn left LCL, PCL, MCL, meniscus and a cracked tibia. Going into the Jones clash, Santos had been on a four-fight winning streak, with three of those being at 205 pounds.
Teixeira (31-7) is a former light heavyweight title challenger, losing to Jones by unanimous decision at UFC 172 in April 2014. The 40-year-old appeared to be in the latter stages of his career. But he found the fountain of youth, winning his last four fights, including a fifth-round TKO over Anthony Smith in May.
Could the winner put on an impressive showing and change White's mind? Considering how he changes his mind quite often, anything is possible.
Here is everything you need to know about UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Teixeira.
When is UFC Fight Night: Thiago Santos vs. Glover Teixeira?
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 7
- Prelims: 7 p.m. ET
- Main card: 10 p.m. ET
UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Teixeira takes place Saturday night, Nov. 7. Prelims get underway at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the main card at 10 p.m. ET.
How to watch UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Teixeira TV, live stream info
In the United States, the prelims and main card are on ESPN+.
In Canada, the prelims (8 p.m. ET) and main card are on TSN.
In the U.K., UFC Fight Night can be seen live BT Sport 1 (prelims at 1 a.m. GMT and main card at 3 a.m.).
In Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, the UFC Fight Night main card (4 a.m. CET Sunday) is available on DAZN, the global sports streaming service.
More details about how to watch in other countries can be found at UFC.com.
Where is UFC Fight Night?
UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Teixeira will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Santos and Teixeira will be fighting there for the first time.
Santos vs. Teixeira odds
According to BetMGM, Santos is a heavy favorite even though he's returning from a 16-month layoff and Teixeira has won four in a row. Santos comes in at -250, meaning that you would need to bet $250 to win $100. Meanwhile, Teixeira is listed at +200, indicating that a $100 bet could net $200 if the Brazilian exits the Octagon with a victory.
Thiago Santos record, bio
- Name: Thiago Santos
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Born: Jan. 7, 1984
- Height: 6-2
- Reach: 76 inches
- Total fights: 28
- Record: 21-7
Glover Teixeira record, bio
- Name: Glover Teixeira
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Born: Oct. 28, 1979
- Height: 6-2
- Reach: 76 inches
- Total fights: 38
- Record: 31-7
UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Teixeira fight card
Main card
- Thiago Santos vs. Glover Teixeira; Light Heavyweight
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Tanner Boser; Heavyweight
- Ian Heinisch vs. Brendan Allen; Middleweight
- Raoni Barcelos vs. Khalid Taha; Bantamweight
- Cláudia Gadelha vs. Yan Xiaonan; Women's Strawweight
Preliminary card
- Trevin Giles vs. Bevon Lewis; Middleweight
- Max Griffin vs. Ramiz Brahimaj; Welterweight
- Darren Elkins vs. Luiz Eduardo Garagorri; Featherweight
- Marcos Rogério de Lima vs. Alexander Romanov; Heavyweight