Glover Teixeira helped Alex Pereira adapt to mixed martial arts in his full-time transition from kickboxing to MMA and maybe win his third UFC title later this month at the White House, and “Poatan” will then return the favor training Teixeira for his boxing debut.
Teixeira will enter the squared circle on Aug. 29 to headline Spaten Fight Night 3 against UFC Hall of Famer and ex-champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Pereira is a crucial part of his camp even though they no longer train as they used to when Teixeira was still an active UFC fighter.
“We train very lightly these days,” Teixeira told MMA Fighting. “Back in the day, I used to train hard with him. After I retired, I started helping him more from the coaching side. Sometimes I’ll have someone grapple with him and then in the final minute I’ll jump in and do some boxing with him, work on entries and things like that. But his vision, his striking, the way he approaches a fight, the feints he uses, it’s all high-level. He has an incredibly high fight IQ and I’m learning a lot from him. Now that I’m boxing, I’ll get the chance to apply some of those lessons. Right now, we’re 100 percent focused on him, and after that I’m sure he’ll be giving me advice and helping me out as well.”
A former middleweight and light heavyweight champion, “Poatan” will co-headline UFC White House versus Ciryl Gane, a battle for the interim heavyweight strap, and Teixeira said the perfect scenario is a knockout victory for both.
“That’s the goal. That’s the focus,” Teixeira said. “I came here to put on a great fight. I really believe in it. ‘Poatan’ is extremely well prepared. We just have to take care of the details and execute the perfect training camp. You know when you say, ‘The cake is ready. We just have to wait for that golden crust on top, make sure it doesn’t overcook, and then enjoy the result’? That’s where we are. And I’m the same way. I’m going forward. I’m training with joy, I’m really happy, and we’re going after the knockout.”
Teixeira said the idea to make his boxing debut was first mentioned over a dinner in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, back in January. Weeks later, Spaten Fight Night came back with the offer to book a match with Rua and Teixeira felt “as happy as I was when I made my UFC debut.”
They both retired on the same night at UFC 283 in January 2023, when Teixeira lost a vacant title bout to Jamahal Hill and Rua was stopped by Ihor Potieria. Teixeira, now 46, remained active as a MMA coach in Danbury since then, and he expects “Shogun” to be in great shape at 44.
“I think ‘Shogun’ is going to come in training hard. That’s what I believe,” Teixeira said. “I think he’s going to train like crazy, and I hope he does. ‘Shogun’ had a great career. He’s not fighting for money. Sure, money is part of it, but neither he nor I are fighting to pay bills. He has his name, his pride, and his fans. We’re definitely going to see a well-prepared ‘Shogun.’ I believe he’ll train extremely hard. We have three months to get ready. Neither of us wants to make a fool of ourselves. And by that I don’t mean losing. Losing can happen when you fight. But we can’t get in there and be completely exhausted by the eighth round or even the sixth round, like you saw with ‘Bambam’ and some of those other [influencers in Brazil].
Teixeira has hoped for a fight with “Shogun” in the UFC many times during his 23-career in the octagon, but it never came to fruition despite UFC’s attempts to make it happen in 2012. They will now clash in boxing, where they both give up crucial parts of their games to focus solely on trading hands, and Teixeira feels he’s in advantage.
“I believe I do [have better hands],” Teixeira said. “I believe in my perseverance and my pressure. Of course, I have to be careful with ‘Shogun’. ‘Shogun’ comes from a striking background so he’s a guy I’ll need the right strategy for. My style is boxing, wrestling and jiu-jitsu, but boxing was always the way for me to close the distance. ‘Shogun’ has his knees, his hands, all of that, but once he’s limited to boxing, he’ll lose some of the weapons that make him such a dangerous striker. I think it’s perfect. If it were kickboxing, we’d say ‘Shogun’ has the better chances. If it were grappling, I’d have the better chances. But boxing is the perfect middle ground.
“I always wanted to fight ‘Shogun’ and ‘Rampage’ [Jackson]. Ever since the beginning of my career. I watched those guys back in PRIDE. I even had an itch to fight Vitor [Belfort] and Wanderlei [Silva] because those were the guys we looked up to. I’m from the same generation as them — I’m actually older than ‘Shogun’ — but he became a champion long before I did, in PRIDE. I always liked his fighting style, and it’s going to be a great fight. I had the opportunity to fight ‘Rampage’, and I always wanted ‘Shogun’ because of that style. I think it’s going to be a war. I like that kind of fight, moving forward, working in close range, throwing heavy shots. I like ‘Shogun’s’ style. I don’t want to fight him for any reason other than the legend he is, the name he carries, and the style he brings into the cage.”
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