Glover Teixeira reveals how far he thinks Alex Pereira is from a title shot against Israel Adesanya
Glover Teixeira has revealed when he thinks a potential Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira fight could come to fruition. The reigning UFC light heavyweight champion suggested that Pereira could face Adesanya in an MMA fight in the UFC around this time in 2022.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Glover Teixeira was asked for a timeline as to when his teammate – highly accomplished kickboxing star Alex Pereira – could fight Israel Adesanya. Pereira holds a pair of victories over Adesanya in the sport of kickboxing and is the only fighter to have knocked out the "Last Stylebender" in professional combat sports.
Glover Teixeira praised Alex Pereira for his impressive second-round TKO win in his UFC debut at UFC 268. The 42-year-old indicated that Pereira is a quick learning martial artist. He highlighted what an average person would take six months to learn, Pereira would grasp in just a month or a week. Teixeira stated:
“He reminds me a lot of myself on this, on Jiu-Jitsu situation because I see a move sometimes and I do it in the row. And I remember tapping guys out in NAGA (North American Grappling Association) tournaments, where I see the day before I see the submission, the day before in the seminar. And Alex is kind of like that. And it (his UFC debut) couldn’t go better. He got taken down. He defended the takedown. He get up, and he stayed there. You see the way the guy come out the clinch. The guy’s face was all messed up. He was dead tired. And he come down with that flying knee; so calm, so relaxed."
"I say three more fights, the most. And he wants to fight quick. He wants February already, wants to fight quick, so he’s going to fight back-to-back probably. And no injury, no nothing, man in the end of the year. I mean, by next year, by this time next year, they’ll be talking about him and Adesanya.”
You can watch Glover Teixeira address a possible Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya UFC fight in the video below:
Glover Teixeira is likely to defend his UFC light heavyweight against Jiri Prochazka next
Glover Teixeira defeated Jan Blachowicz via second-round submission at UFC 267 last month to win the UFC light heavyweight title.
UNDISPUTED CHAMP AT 42 YEARS OLD!!!! 🏆
[ #UFC267 | @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi ] https://t.co/yyxWjAqexp
With Blachowicz out of the title picture for the time being, fighters such as Jiri Prochazka, Magomed Ankalaev, Aleksandar Rakic, Thiago Santos and others are eyeing a title shot against Teixeira.
UFC president Dana White has indicated that Jiri Prochazka could receive a title shot against Glover Teixeira next. The fight’s likely to take place in 2022 but hasn’t been confirmed yet.
On the other hand, Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his UFC middleweight title in a rematch against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 on February 12th, 2022. Meanwhile, Alex Pereira’s next opponent and exact comeback date are yet to be revealed.
Com Ngannou X Gane no PPV de janeiro, UFC agora está perto de fechar a revanche entre Israel Adesanya X Robert Whittaker para 12 de fevereiro, no UFC 271. Luta de Jacob Malkoun (companheiro de treino de Whittaker) contra AJ Dobson foi transferida para a mesma data. #feedmma