A True Cinderella Man of MMA: The Career of Glover Teixeira
By time his career was said and done, Brazilian legend Glover Teixeira made sure his name would go down in the history books as one of the greatest light-heavyweight mixed martial arts fighters of all-time.
Glover Teixeira began his career in June of 2002, where he was TKO’d in round two by a 1-0 opponent named Eric 
Schwartz at WEC 3. Teixeira then went 2-1 over his next three, winning his second and third fights, before losing a unanimous decision to fellow future UFC veteran Ed Herman.
However, following a 2-2 start to his career, Teixeira wouldn’t lose again for nearly a decade.
Teixeira would win his next 15-straight contests before finally being signed to the UFC. This included 11 knockouts, 3 submissions, and just one lone decision victory in this time.
He’d been training with former UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell for years at this point, and he was one of, if not the highest touted prospect outside the UFC for some time upon his arrival.
Teixeira was 17-2 at this point with 15 stoppages, and he was making his UFC debut at UFC 146 in May of 2012, where he faced off with six-fight promotional veteran Kyle Kingsbury (4-2 UFC, 11-3 overall), who he submitted (arm-triangle choke) in under two minutes.
His sophomore effort came later that year in October, where he faced fellow Brazilian and former professional boxer Fabio Maldonado.
Maldonado was 18-5 as a professional (1-2 UFC), and he’d gone 40-5 as an amateur boxer, as well as 22-0 as a professional. Teixeira absolutely wrecked Maldonado from start to finish, forcing a doctor stoppage at the end of round two. He boxed Maldonado up badly throughout and reigned down vicious ground and pound whilst in top position when the fight went to the mat.
The striking totals for this bout were 85-10 in significant strikes and 117-14 in total strikes, both in favor of Teixeira.
This performance handed Teixeira the 2012 Beatdown of the Year award.
Next Teixeira dominated former UFC light-heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson (32-10, 7-4 UFC) to a unanimous decision victory, doubling up on strikes against the former champion and securing five takedowns in five attempts.
James Te Huna (16-5) was next up, a fellow knockout artist that was 5-1 inside the octagon at the time who’d only lost to eventual three-time title challenger Alexander Gustafsson inside the promotion. Teixeira rocked Te Huna with a punch and jumped on a guillotine choke to secure the submission victory midway through the opening round.
Teixeira then faced eventual two-division Bellator champion Ryan Bader (15-3, 8-3 UFC), who he TKO’d with a thunderous defensive boxing combination with his back to the fence, once again in the opening round.
Bader went on to go 12-1 over his next 13 contests, laying claim to Bellator’s heavyweight and light-heavyweight championships, where he to this day still holds the heavyweight title.
Teixeira had finally earned a long awaited title shot of his own following this 5-0 run to begin his UFC career, his win over Bader making it 20-straight. He fought Jon Jones for the UFC light-heavyweight championship in April of 2014 at UFC 172, a fight he was absolutely dominated in throughout en route to a unanimous decision defeat.
But hey, he lost to the greatest fighter ever in many people’s eyes.
Future Bellator light-heavyweight champion Phil Davis was next up, who handily out-wrestled Teixeira to another unanimous decision, and suddenly Teixeira wasn’t looking so unstoppable. Following his 20-fight win streak that saw 17 finishes, he’d then lost his next eight rounds straight, albeit to top three talents.
Teixeira got back to his winning ways nearly a year later in August of 2015, where he first defeated Ovince Saint Preux (rear naked choke), before stopping Patrick Cummins (TKO), and then former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans (KO).
Saint Preux was 18-6 as a professional (6-1 UFC with 5 finishes), losing to talents such as Ryan Bader and Gegard
Mousasi in his previous defeats, Cummins went on to defeat future light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz, and Evans was 2-1 in his last three with wins over Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen coming in.
However, the same man that handed Ryan Bader that one loss in his 13-fight span mentioned above, Anthony Johnson, did the same to Teixeira in the Brazilian’s next outing, violently KO’ing him stiff in a mere 15 seconds.
Teixeira had a bit of a back-and-forth span for the next couple years here, as he’d next defeat future middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier (UD), lose to Alexander Gustafsson (KO), beat Misha Cirkunov (TKO), and then lose to Corey Anderson (UD) the same way he lost to Phil Davis, being mauled for three-straight rounds, bringing his record to 27-7.
But, following this 2-3 run was nothing short of an astounding, extraordinary career resurgence.
Teixeira went on to win his next six-straight against the likes of Karl Roberson (arm-triangle choke), Ion Cutelaba (rear naked choke), Nikita Krylov (SD), Anthony Smith (TKO), and Thiago Santos (rear naked choke).
Notice that was just five names, the sixth of which came in his second title shot, where he dethroned Jan Blachowicz (rear naked choke) in dominant fashion to claim the UFC light-heavyweight championship just two days following his 42nd birthday.
What’s truly incredible about this is that a number of those names nearly beat him; Roberson, a former pro kickboxer, Krylov, a proven finisher, Smith, a former title challenger, and Santos, another former title challenger, all nearly knocked him out, before he’d secure incredible comeback wins in each fight.
Also, that stoppage victory over Anthony Smith awarded him his second Beatdown of the Year honor.
However, that’s where his ceiling was topped, winning the UFC light-heavyweight championship.
Teixeira went into his first title defense opposing former Rizin light-heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka (29-3-1), who came into the bout on a 12-fight win, and 11-fight knockout streak. Of his 28 wins, 25 came via knockout with two submissions, and just one single decision.
What’s more, Prochazka was 22-1-1 in his last 24, and he’d avenged that lone defeat.
After 24-and-a-half minutes of absolute war, where Teixeira was up on the cards 3-1 going into the fifth and final round, Prochazka shocked the world with his incredible submission (rear naked choke) win with just 28 seconds left on the clock.
This fight was awarded 2022 Fight of the Year, and it could have easily been a Submission of the Year win for Prochazka. Glover Teixeira is the greatest grappler the UFC’s 205 lb division has ever seen, boasting a 2nd-degree black belt in BJJ, as well as a couple submission records, you’ll see at the bottom of this piece.
Teixeira was lined up for an immediate rematch with Prochazka, which was intended to go down at UFC 282 in December of 2022. However, Prochazka was forced from the bout with a nasty shoulder injury that required surgery, and the UFC decided to make no. 3 ranked former champion Jan Blachowicz versus no. 2 ranked Magomed
Ankalaev the main event for the vacant title.
Those two were already scheduled for a three-round affair, but with the UFC wanting to keep a title fight on the card, Teixeira was left in the dark.
The thing is, that fight between Blachowicz and Ankalaev ended in a draw, leaving the UFC without a light-heavyweight champion.
Dana White then decided to make another vacant title fight, this one went down one PPV later at UFC 283 between Teixeira and then no. 7 ranked Jamahal Hill.
Unfortunate for Teixeira, he was unable to get the win here, losing all five rounds to the much younger and more agile Hill. But he had his moments. He got Hill down a couple times, landed some hard punches, and showcased the heart of a lion en route to his unanimous decision defeat.
Teixeira decided to retire following this defeat, becoming the second Brazilian legend to retire in Rio at UFC 283 behind former PRIDE and UFC light-heavyweight champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
Glover Teixeira Career Accomplishments
BJJ
- 2nd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- ADCC South American Championships gold medalist (2009)
- ADCC South American Championships silver medalist (2011)
Mixed Martial Arts
- Most finishes in UFC light-heavyweight history (13)
- Most submission wins in UFC light-heavyweight history (7)
- Most submission attempts in UFC light-heavyweight history (16)
- Second-most wins in UFC light-heavyweight history (16)
- Second-most post-fight bonuses in UFC light-heavyweight history (10)
- Two-time Beatdown of the Year winner (2012 against Fabio Maldonado, 2020 against Anthony Smith)
- 2020 Comeback Fighter of the Year
- Retired in 2023 with record of 33-9
- Wins- 18 knockout, 10 submission, 5 decision
- Losses – 3 knockout, 1 submission, 5 decision
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