Glover Teixeira training with Team Lyoto Machida as the two legends prepare for big fights
UFC light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira has been training with Team Lyoto Machida as “The Dragon” prepares to fight Ryan Bader again.
Machida returns to the cage this weekend when he takes on Ryan Bader in a rematch at Bellator 256. Their five-round fight is part of the Bellator World Light Heavyweight Grand Prix and is a rematch of the pair’s first meeting back in August 2012 that Machida won by KO. This time around, Machida is much older at age 42 and is a big underdog to defeat Bader once again. But the lure of the $1 million grand prize has him thinking big.
To have the best chance to win, Machida has been training with a tremendous group of fighters in Winter Garden, Florida including GLORY kickboxing champion Alex Pereira, UFC middleweight Rodolfo Vieira, and UFC welterweight Phil Rowe, among others. Those others include Teixeira, the UFC standout. The two Brazilians have trained together in the past and once again, “The Dragon” brought in his friend to help him prepare for Bader.
Though Teixeira normally trains in his own gym in his hometown of Danbury, Connecticut, he ventured out to train with Machida in sunny Florida for this camp. Machida is training for Bader, while Teixeira is getting ready to fight Jan Blachowicz. The two legends looked to be in great shape in the photos. Though Teixeira is 41 years old himself, he’s still fighting at a high level in the UFC and is set to fight Blachowicz next, hopefully sometime later this year. It’s pretty clear that being in their 40s isn’t stopping Machida and Teixeira of still having title aspirations.
Teixeira training with his friend Machida should help both fighters out for their next fights. Machida can use all the help he looks against this version of Bader, while Teixeira can always use the training and sparring with another high-level striker in Machida, as he prepares for one of the toughest fights of his career in Blachowicz.
Do you think Lyoto Machida can beat Ryan Bader? And do you think Glover Teixeira can defeat Jan Blachowicz?
