Glover Teixeira is rather excited for a second chance to make things right in a rematch against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 282 in December.
While the first matchup between them was hailed as a potential “Fight of the Year,” Teixeira laments a few mistakes he made that allowed Prochazka to get the win over him, not to mention a difficult travel schedule with the bout booked in Singapore that plagued him in the hours leading up to the event.
According to Teixeira, the weigh-ins scheduled for UFC 275 were on a much different schedule than the usual routine fighters keep at other events. That resulted in Teixeira vomiting and struggling to keep down food and water with less than 24 hours remaining until he set foot in the cage to defend his UFC light heavyweight title for the first time.
“The weight cut was not hard,” Teixeira explained on Thursday. “The weight cut it was just the way they did it there, waiting around for six and a half hours. Later on, as soon as I started drinking, I started throwing up. It took me a while to start eating again and recover.”
Teixeira promises he’s not making excuses for the loss, but there’s no way around the obvious issues he was facing, especially going into a 25-minute main event against somebody as dangerous as Prochazka.
“For sure, in a five-round fight, that makes a difference,” Teixeira said. “I’m not saying it would make for a different result. It could be the same but for sure, a five round fight, no doubt that will mess you up.”
Even with a win, Prochazka has stated numerous times that while he was happy with the result, he was still upset because he believed that was one of the worst performances of his career.
Teixeira isn’t so sure about that, but he anxiously awaits the chance to face the best Prochazka possible when they rematch in one month’s time.
“Let’s see in the next fight,” Teixeira said. “That’s why we’re here to do it again. Because I don’t believe it. I don’t believe him. That’s why we’ll do it again. We’ll see.”
As for the changes he’ll make for the rematch — beyond avoiding further health-related issues — Teixeira said he was only a few tweaks away from beating Prochazka.
“That fight, it’s just a little adjustment that I have to do,” he said. “That fight went great the way I fight. I was finding the distance standing up, taking him to the ground, just a little adjustment I have to do on the ground. Because he was slipping too much, maybe I was going to a submission too much and lose the position a little bit. Talk about little adjustments in my game and finish him at the right time.”
If there’s one thing Teixeira plans to duplicate from the first fight, it’s his willingness to engage with Prochazka on the feet or on the ground, because he’ll do whatever it takes to earn a knockout or submission.
That might put Teixeira in some tough spots. In the first fight, an ill-fated guillotine attempt allowed Prochazka to turn the tables on him. Despite that outcome, he will seek a knockout or submission in every exchange. That’s the only way he knows how to fight.
“The guillotine was not a mistake,” Teixeira said. “The mistake was me turning around over there not being aware that choke could happen. That was the mistake. He was slick about it and the choke sunk in. It was the fifth round and I didn’t have time to defend.
“That’s my style. I try to finish the fight from the beginning to the end. If I see the opening, I go for it. What’s going to happen next, whatever, I’ll deal with it.”
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