Glover Teixeira reveals his retirement came spur-of-the-moment, details what went wrong during last fight
Glover Teixeira opened up about UFC 283, which saw him retire following his loss to Jamahal Hill for the vacant light heavyweight championship.
While speaking with MMA Fighting's Trocacao Franca, Teixeira described what went wrong for him in the fight and his decision to retire from MMA. He mentioned that he believed he missed opportunities to use his wrestling more.
He said:
"The way I'm used to training, that brutal training - and that's something I missed in this fight, being brutal with takedowns. I had many opportunities. I was avoiding [his punches] early, but then he started to connect a lot of punches and cut me. But I could still can block some and fight back...But I lacked that aggressiveness."
The former light heavyweight champion also brought up that he initially didn't plan on retiring following his fight with Hill. He mentioned that he is content with his decision to hang up his gloves, saying:
"If I'm not fighting for the UFC belt, if I don't have that goal - I've never fought only for the belt, but I had that thing of, 'I'm going after it, I'll win it again,' you know? To go back and fight another fight only for the fight, with no desire and hunger to get to the belt again - I'm good, man."
Teixeira had a remarkable resurgence later in his career and defeated top light heavyweights in the UFC en route to becoming light heavyweight champion at 42 years old.
Glover Teixeira happy to have retired in Brazil
Glover Teixeira placed his gloves in the center of the Octagon after an epic battle at #UFC283 https://t.co/InEUwZPtnJ
Glover Teixeira's final fight was special as it took place in his home country of Brazil. It's not common for a fighter to get the perfect sendoff when their careers come to an end, but the former light heavyweight champion had just that.
Winning the vacant title would've been a great way for the 43-year-old to call it a career, but he gave it his all and had some promising moments throughout the fight. Many UFC fans called his performance Rocky-like for how resilient he was and for having the crowd fully behind him.
During the aforementioned interview, the former light heavyweight champion mentioned that he was happy to have been able to retire in Brazil, saying:
"To know everything about my culture {Brazil}, and then to come back and end my career in Brazil. I'm so happy about everything."
Teixeira's final fight was a memorable one as he and Hill both earned post-fight bonuses for Fight of the Night.