Age is just a number.
Forty one-year-old Glover Teixeira proved that once again after he submitted Thiago Santos at 1:49 of the third round during UFC Fight Night yesterday morning at UFC Apex in Nevada.
Santos connected with a sledge hammer left hand which sent Texeira down on the canvas early in the third round. Santos mounted Texeira and administered vicious ground-and-pound. Santos seemed on the way to a knockout victory.
Texeira managed to wrap his left arm around Santos’ neck and his right over Santos’ torso to weather the vicious attack.
Texeira then somehow scrambled to his feet and grabbed Santos from behind. The two staggered back into the side of the cage with Texeira now on top and administering ground-and-pound on Santos.
A fatigued Santos, trying to avoid strikes on his face, turned around and gave Texeira his back. The veteran slipped his right arm under Santos’ chin and tightened a rear-naked choke around the neck which forced Santos to tap out.
It was the fifth consecutive victory for the UFC veteran who then called for a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight crown held by Jan Blachowicz.
“I want that belt, man. It’s a dream. I live a simple life. I don’t fight for the money. I fight for the belt. I want that belt. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m so disciplined. I work so hard and that’s my dream,” said Teixeira.
“I know it’s not an easy task. It’s still a big fight ahead of me but I want that chance, you know. I think I deserve it. I think I work hard for it and I think I deserve that chance for the belt.”
Both Santos and Teixeira carried knockout power in either hand. But Texeira somehow weathered Santos’ two-fisted attacks to eke out the hard-earned submission victory.
In the most electrifying bout of the day Jamey Simmons tried to fix his hair in the middle of the fight against Giga Chikadze and paid dearly for his vanity. As the two circled in the middle of the cage Simmons used his hands to push his coifed hair back in place. Reuel Vidal
Chikadze took advantage immediately and connected with a left kick to Simmons’ exposed torso. Simmons then lowered his arm leaving himself open for a leg kick to the head.
Simmons fell to the ground almost senseless. Chikadze was on him immediately to administer a few more strikes before referee Herb Dean waved off the fight at 3:51 of the first round.
In other fights of the day Andrei Arlovski eked out a unanimous decision victory over Tanner Boser at Heavyweight. Raoni Barcelos won by unanimous decision over Khalid Taha at Bantamweight.
