Report: Jimi Manuwa vs. Glover Teixeira Being Targeted for UFC 208 in Anaheim

Though it is currently without an official headliner, UFC 208 looks to have grown by one massive fight. This fight is expected to pair England’s Jimi Manuwa with Brazil’s Glover Teixeira in a clash of top-ranked light heavyweights. This compelling showdown was first reported to be in the works by FloCombat.com.

Should this fight occur, it’ll be a big one for the light heavyweight division, which was recently rocked by the last minute cancellation of a title fight between champion Daniel Cormier and challenger Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.

Manuwa would enter this bout having recently scored one of the biggest wins of his career over former title challenger Ovince St. Preux. He earned this win with a blistering, second-round knockout, which occured in front of thousands of his countrymen in Manchester, England. Manuwa’s three most recent bouts before this big win saw him sandwich a win over Jan Blachowicz between knockout losses to Rumble and Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson.

Teixeira, meanwhile, would enter this bout on the heels of an extremely emphatic loss. In his last bout, he had his power turned off by rocket-fuelled Anthony Johnson uppercut just 13 seconds into the first round of their fight. Prior to this loss, Teixeira had assembled a nice three-fight win-streak, having submitted Ovince St. Preux, and knocked out Patrick Cummins and Rashad Evans.

While neither Manuwa nor Teixeira is likely to sprint past Rumble in the contendership race with a win (they have both been knocked out by him in the past) the winner of their bout will be right in the thick of the light heavyweight title picture. Whether they’re able to vault ahead of Ryan Bader, who recently dazzled with a lopsided thumping of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, is difficult to say.

If this matchup between Manuwa and Teixeira is indeed put together, who do you think comes out on top? Sound off in the comments, PENN Nation!