The winner of four straight fights, [autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag] has options.
Teixeira (31-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) isn’t typically one to call his shots. After his UFC on ESPN+ 29 main event win over Anthony Smith, this was no different.
When speaking at a post-fight news conference, Teixeira was asked about the other contenders at the top of the division, just underneath champion Jon Jones: [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag], [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag], and [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag]. Teixeira says he welcomes fights against any of those three names.
“Whatever,” Teixeira said to reporters, including MMA Junkie. “Any of those three guys you just said (work). Jan Blachowicz, if he doesn’t want to wait for Jon Jones for a long time, let’s do it or whatever. Any of those three guys you just mentioned, I respect all of them.
“(Santos) is in Brazil. Right now, we don’t know because all of the situation (with travel). That would be a good fight to do in Brazil. I like Jan, too. I like the way he fights, man. He’s been fighting really good. I’m been fighting really good. It’s not a bad fight.”
As for which opponent he thinks presents the most difficult matchup, Teixeira was noncommittal. All three fighters would be tough matchups, so it doesn’t matter, Teixeira said.
“They all are (challenging), man.” Teixeria said. “They are all tough guys. They’re over there for a reason. I couldn’t say. It doesn’t matter to me. Any of those three guys are good.”
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Reyes (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is coming off of a close split decision to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 247 in February – a fight many people believed should have been scored in his favor.
Blachowicz (26-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC) recently took a step closer toward his first UFC title shot with a first-round knockout victory of then-red-hot contender Corey Anderson at UFC on ESPN+ 25 in February.
Santos (21-7 MMA, 13-6 UFC) has not competed since a loss to loss to Jones at UFC 239 in July. In that fight, Santos tore his left LCL, PCL, MCL, and meniscus. Santos also cracked his tibia and partially tore his right ACL. Since then, he’s been rehabbing and recovering as he approaches a long-awaited comeback.
The light heavyweight bout between Teixeira and Smith was the UFC on ESPN+ 29 main event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. It streamed on ESPN+.
Check out the UFC on ESPN+ 29 post-fight news conference with Glover Teixeira in the video above.
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