Former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira might have flirted with the idea of retirement during his time as champ, but he won’t be hanging up the gloves any time soon. Teixeira is set to face Jamahal Hill at UFC 283 for the vacant light heavyweight title, and in a recent episode of Trocação Franca he clarified that he’s not going anywhere.
“It definitely won’t be any retirement now. Someone asked me back then, ‘Do you think one more fight, and then defend your belt at Madison Square Garden [and retire]?’ I said ‘Who knows.’ If this weekend, especially what happened to me, hasn’t taught me anything… I never make plans for the future. I live in the present. I don’t have such plans, ‘I’ll retire at that date.’ The day I retire will be the day I’m training poorly, when I don’t want to go to the gym anymore.
Glover Teixeira Won’t Retire After UFC 283
I had moments like that back in the day. I was dealing with injuries, I was down. When I lost to Corey Anderson I thought, ‘F***, I’ll fight one more and if I lose, I’ll retire.’ But then I was happy again, new gym, changing a few things and being happy as f***. I love to be training and fighting. You saw my last fight, the one with Jiri. We see the level I’m fighting. It’s intense. My fight is intense and that’s why people can’t keep up with it.”
Teixeira lost the title to Jiri Prochazka, who he was supposed to get a rematch against at UFC 282. Instead, Prochazka obliterated his shoulder and vacated the title. Teixeira did not want to fight a different opponent, so Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev fought for the vacant title, only for the fight to be declared a draw. Teixeira revealed his reaction to the outcome.
“I thought, what about me? Who am I fighting now? There’s no champion. But I didn’t think too much about it. I was cool. They called me right after and took me to a meeting room backstage and we got it done. It was quick. [UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell] asked me if I was down to fighting Jamahal Hill for the belt in Brazil and I said, ‘Sure, talk to the managers and we’ll get it done. Let’s go.”
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