One of the most wholesome moments inside the Octagon is without a doubt Glover Teixeira becoming the new light-heavyweight champion. He also broke the record for the oldest first-time champion in UFC history. It is not easy to compete at the highest level where there are many young hungry lions, but Glover did it.
Many analysts have predicted that Teixeira’s path to victory is his high-level BJJ, but the question will be will he be able to take down Jan Blachowicz? Not only that Teixeira needs to be cautious of the Polish Power, which has been knocking guys out.
Fortunately for Glover, he was able to take down Blachowicz within the first minute of the fight. It was probably the most important game plan for Glover since it will not only give him momentum but it will also tire out Blachowicz by carrying all that weight. Blachowicz was cautious with Teixiera’s grappling that he did not want to give his back in order to get back up. The remainder of the first round was all on the ground and Glover just landing strikes.
In the second round, Blachowicz was warier of the takedown attempt that he got caught with a hook by Glover. Once he got stunned, Glover was able to set up a takedown against Blachowicz.
Once Glover got him on the ground, it was pretty much over. He took Jan’s back and flattened him out. He then secured a rear-naked choke that stopped the fight.
Daniel Cormier who was the commentator was emotional seeing an old veteran like Glover finally become a light-heavyweight champion. It is worth noting that Teixeira fought for the title before but fell short against a prime Jon Jones. Who would have thought that after suffering a brutal knockout against Gustafsson and even Anderson, he would end up becoming a champion at 42 years old?
Blachowicz is also not an easy opponent to beat, since he just came off a win against Israel Adesanya and knocked out guys like Luke Rockhold, Corey Anderson, and Dominick Reyes. Many thought that he would rule the division for a while, but it did not seem so. Blachowicz took the loss well and congratulated Teixeira for that great performance.
