Glover Teixeira confirms retirement plans on hold ahead of Jamahal Hill fight at UFC 283: “We see the level I’m fighting”
Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira isn’t thinking about retirement.
The Brazilian has been out of action since his loss to Jiri Prochazka at UFC 275 in June. While the bout was back and forth for all five rounds, it was ‘Denisa’ who secured the victory by submission.
With that, the 43-year-old’s light-heavyweight run had come to a close. Prior to the event, Teixeira revealed his plans to retire by the end of 2022. In an ideal world, the Brazilian planned to retire in Madison Square Garden in November, but those plans obviously went up in smoke.
Nonetheless, Glover Teixeira decided to fight on and was booked for a rematch with Jiri Prochazka for UFC 282. The champion famously vacated his title late last month following a brutal shoulder injury. Magomed Ankalev and Jan Blachowicz were elevated to the headliner, with the vacant 205-pound championship on the line.
Last Saturday night, the pair fought to a split draw, leaving the title vacant. In the post-fight presser, Dana White announced that Teixeira would face Jamahal Hill at UFC 283 in Brazil. Ahead of the bout, some fans have expressed concern that the division could again be in disarray, especially if the Brazilian retires soon.
However, that won’t be the case. In an interview on the Trocação Franca podcast, Teixeira revealed he has no current plans to retire.
“It definitely won’t be any retirement now,” Teixeira said. “Someone asked me back then, ‘Do you think one more fight, and then defend your belt at Madison Square Garden [and retire]?’ I said ‘Who knows.’ If this weekend, especially what happened to me, hasn’t taught me anything… I never make plans for the future. I live in the present. I don’t have such plans, ‘I’ll retire at that date.’ The day I retire will be the day I’m training poorly, when I don’t want to go to the gym anymore.” (h/t MMAFighting)
He continued, “I had moments like that back in the day. I was dealing with injuries, I was down. When I lost to Corey Anderson I thought, ‘F***, I’ll fight one more and if I lose, I’ll retire.’ But then I was happy again, new gym, changing a few things and being happy as f***. I love to be training and fighting. You saw my last fight, the one with Jiri. We see the level I’m fighting. It’s intense. My fight is intense and that’s why people can’t keep up with it.”
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