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UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz is set to defend his title against number one contender Glover Teixeira at UFC 266. Blachowicz has come into his own of late as the king of the light heavyweight division. He defeated Dominick Reyes for the title at UFC 253 and then defended it against Israel Adesanya at UFC 259, entering both bouts as an underdog.
While the title defense against The Last Stylebender was an impressive achievement, Jan Blachowicz might have succeeded in it overly relying on his grappling. MMA veteran Glover Teixeira poses a tougher challenge against the Polish UFC light heavyweight champion in comparison to Izzy.
In this article, we take a look at three big reasons why Jan Blachowicz will find Glover Teixeira a tougher opponent to beat than Israel Adesanya.
#3 - Grappling
Jan Blachowicz capitalized on his grappling and heavier physique to dominate Israel Adesanya at UFC 259. The Polish bruiser succeeded in his first title defense as he attempted five takedowns on Izzy with a conversion rate of 60 per cent. The Last Stylebender, as the world saw, had little to no answers to the questions Blachowicz was repeatedly asking him on the mat.
That would not be the case when Jan Blachowicz takes on Glover Teixeira, who is well versed in grappling fundamentals. Far from the zero submission finishes in Adesanya's pro MMA career, Teixeira is a jiu-jitsu black belt with nine career submissions.
The 41-year-old Brazilian has submitted a list of renowned UFC stars in his career including Jared Cannonier, Karl Roberson, Ion Cutelaba and Thiago Santos.
With a takedown accuracy of 40 percent, Glover Teixeira will give Jan Blachowicz a much tougher time than Adesanya could manage. On top of that, he would also be well-equipped to defend takedowns against Blachowicz, with a takedown defense rate of 60%.
Glover Teixeira has the most submission victories to his name in the UFC light heavyweight division (six). He is currently on a five-fight winning streak - three of which have come via submissions, against Roberson, Cutelaba and Santos.
#2 - Striking
Israel Adesanya is considered one of the best strikers in MMA with his kickboxing background. However, Jan Blachowicz was able to give him a tough match-up at UFC 259 even in striking.
A major reason Israel Adesanya could not go all guns blazing against Blachowicz despite a two-inch height advantage was his fear of being out-wrestled - a fear that proved reasonable.
With Glover Teixeira matching up well with Jan Blachowicz in grappling, the Brazilian would not think twice before showing off his skilled striking game. Teixeira has a whopping 18 KO/TKO finishes to his name in his pro MMA career, higher than Adesanya's 15 and way-higher than Blachowicz's eight.
Out of his last five wins, Teixeira has heavily out-striked almost all of his opponents. In his last TKO win, which came against Anthony Smith in May 2020, Teixeira connected over 200 punches before TKO-ing Lionheart in the fifth round.
After the fourth round of the fight, Smith was heard telling his corner, "My teeth are falling out," owing to the heavy strikes landed by Texeira.
Glover Teixeira also has the most stoppage victories in the UFC light heavyweight division (12).
#1 - Endurance
While Jan Blachowicz has eleven decision wins to his name and Glover Texeira has five, it is only because the Brazilian likes to finish his opponents earlier. Teixeira has an insane endurance by the standards of a light heavyweight and he likes to drag his opponents into deep waters before tiring them up and finishing them.
Moreover, Glover Teixeira is famous for his rock-jaw that lets him stand back up no matter how hard you drop him. Take, for instance, Teixeira's much-celebrated wins against Fabio Maldonado, Ovince Saint Preunx, Ion Cutelaba and Anthony Smith.
In the fight against Ion Cutelaba, Glover Teixeira was battered - eating up a head kick, a superman punch, a big right hand, a jump knee and a spinning back fist - in the first round itself. He had recovered nicely before forcing The Hulk to tap in round two.
In the more recent scrap with Anthony Smith in May 2020, Teixeira took a massive beating in the first and majority of the second round. He was thrashed by Anthony Smith to the point that it looked the fight was going to be stopped.
However, Teixeira weathered all of it, stayed calm and came back to eventually finish Smith in the fifth round, with a little less than four minutes left on the clock.
Getting rocked and still coming back is an art that Glover Teixeira knows too well - a fact that Jan Blachowicz might find a little difficult to deal with given his recent win against Adesanya in March.
