Can veteran Teixeira Finally Claim The Light Heavyweight Crown?

SuperSport viewers on DStv can look forward to seeing Ultimate Fighting Championship action as UFC 267 takes center stage at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the evening of Saturday 30 October 2021.

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Veteran MMA fighter Glover Teixeira will look to finally become the UFC light heavyweight champion when he faces title-holder Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC 267.

Teixeira (32-7) has fought for the belt before, losing via unanimous decision to Jon Jones back in 2014, but he has earned his current shot at the title by putting together a five-fight winning streak, most recently submitting fellow Brazilian Thiago Santos in November of last year.

The 41-year-old holds the record for the most stoppage and submission wins in the division – 12 and 6 respectively – and would be a popular champion, with even a former opponent in the shape of Anthony Smith hoping the veteran succeeds.

“I just think that man just deserves it, you know?” explained Smith. “Like, if Glover Teixeira can sail off into the sunset someday, at least for that moment in time wearing a 12-pound gold belt around his waist, I just think that would put a lot of good into the world. That gives a lot of people like me hope and it motivates a lot of older guys, and it’s just a feel-good story. So I hope Glover [wins].”

Blachowicz  (28-8), however, is also on a five-fight win streak and his last trip to the Octagon saw him become the first man to defeat Israel Adesanya, defending his title for the first time in the process. Adesanya may be a middleweight, but Blachowicz’s intelligence and dominance of ‘Izzy’, who was the pre-fight favorite, was impressive nonetheless.

The 38-year-old Pole is expecting a tough fight against Teixeira but believes he’ll stop his fellow veteran with a knockout.

“But yeah, he’s got… lot’s of experience, many fights. He’s got everything. He knows how to fight in stand-up. Jiu-jitsu is high level. So I have to be ready for everything,” explained Blachowicz.

“But we will see you know. I believe that I’m going to knock him out. I do everything I can do to knock him out, but I have to be ready for a really tough, tough fight. That’s gonna be the best Glover ever… So I have to also be the best Jan Blachowicz ever.”

The co-main event is a bantamweight interim championship fight between Petr Yan (15-2) and Cory Sandhagen (14-3). It was originally hoped that a rematch between current champion Aljamain Sterling and the former titleholder Yan would take place, but Sterling withdrew last month due to a neck injury.

Sterling and Yan had previously met at UFC 259, with Sterling winning the fight (and title) by disqualification (intentional illegal knee strike) in the fourth round, becoming the first fighter to win a UFC title by disqualification.

This fight may be for the interim title, but Sandhagen sees Yan as the true champion of the bantamweight division: “I think it will mean a lot. Because it never feels real until it actually is real, and now that I’m fighting for a UFC belt, even though it’s an interim one, it would feel like I was the champ,” said the 29-year-old American.

“It would feel that way. I would definitely know that I have some quieting of the voices may be about the Sterling loss that I had and the T.J. [Dillashaw] loss that I had, but those will be very exciting rematches in the division also. I think I’m excited. It would feel like I was the champ if I do win against Yan.”

The rest of the main card features up-and-coming lightweight contender Islam Makhachev looking to underline his title credentials with a win over Dan Hooker; a heavyweight showdown between Alexander Volkov and Marcin Tybura; Li Jingliang v Kamzat Chimaev in the welterweight division; and a light heavyweight card opener between Magomed Ankalaev and Volkan Oezdemir.

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 UFC 267 – Main card

– Main event: Light heavyweight championship: Jan Blachowicz v Glover Teixeira

– Co-main: Bantamweight interim championship: Petr Yan v Cory Sandhagen

– Lightweight: Islam Makhachev v Dan Hooker

– Heavyweight: Alexander Volkov v Marcin Tybura

– Welterweight: Li Jingliang v Kamzat Chimaev

– Light heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev v Volkan Oezdemir

UFC 267 broadcast details

All times CAT

Saturday 30 October

18:00: Prelims – LIVE on SuperSport Action and SuperSport Maximo 1

20:00: The main card – LIVE on SuperSport Action and SuperSport Maximo 1