If perhaps Glover Teixeira's hype were a publicly traded stock, then Jim Cramer could be screaming like a madman to own it bullishly.
Since making the jump on the bright lights of a UFC, Teixeira has slowly accumulated a head of steam within the light heavyweight division. And during that time, the Brazilian proceeded to go from a relatively unknown entity to somewhat of a budding star on the world's biggest MMA period.
After Teixeira destroyed Fabio Maldonado within his second bout from UFC 153, it appeared that she was set for a collision course using a potential contender.
In a post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White colored told MMA Weekly where Teixeira stood within the division, stating that, "He's going to have to fight one of several top guys before we start having a debate about title shots. "
Within January, Teixeira chalked in place a decisive unanimous-decision win over former light heavyweight samsung champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. The fight gave him a win over an opponent with marquee identity value, but it is disingenuous to say that "Rampage" was at top form.
Regardless of that concession, Teixeira's performance alone should have earned him the possibility to be paired against some legit top-10 opponent with his next fight.
Originally, Teixeira was supposed to defend myself against Ryan Bader at UFC one hundred sixty, but Bader pulled straight from the fight with an unspecified injury. Now he is reserved to fight James Te Huna in the third fight of this pay-per-view card.
Te Huna happens to be riding a four-fight win streak inside the UFC. Most recently, he thumped Ryan Jimmo in a pretty lopsided bout, but that certainly doesn't put him in the upper echelon of that division.
If Glover Teixeira is a No. 4 light heavyweight in the UFC's official standings, in that case why on God's earth-friendly Earth is he battling the unranked Te Huna?
Even if one believes that Teixeira's setting is over-inflated, this fight still makes certainly no sense for him. Just what does he achieve when he beats Te Huna? Not a single thing.
At best, it can be described as lateral move for Teixeira. A victory puts him no nearer to getting a crack in the belt. On the some other hand, a loss would be devastating to his brand hopes, especially given the truth that he's already 33. This is the no-win situation.
Right now, Teixeira exists in your nebulous world of boasting. People are buying into the promise. The Brazilian indicates glimmers of greatness, but it's impossible to know if for real without the dog actually fighting a top-level person. Until that happens, the rest is purely conjecture.
The UFC has to stop messing around allow Teixeira an opponent that could put his skills for the test. Then fans will eventually see if he has what it takes to be a serious contender in the light heavyweight division.
A matchup with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua would be perfect follow-up for Teixeira when he runs through Ght Huna on Saturday.
"Shogun" is already set to take on Antônio Rogério Nogueira with UFC 161 in June. This fight is a rematch on their battle in the 2005 Self-importance Middleweight Grand Prix quarterfinal.
Teixeira and Rua also already have got a "history. " This is caused by Rua supposedly stating—according to Dana White within a postfight UFC on FX interview—that he would prefer to be cut within the UFC than fight Teixeira from UFC on FOX 4. Rua disputed that in the interview with Tatame that's reposted on SB Usa.
[Teixeira's] not top 10. But then we made available him Brandon Vera and he took it with two seconds – and Vera isn't top either.
Now nearly 12 months later, the two fighters end up in similar positions. Teixeira is riding some sort of 18-fight win streak and "Shogun" is sporting a list of 3-4 in his last seven bouts; then again, they are in your mix at 205.
The fighters would bring similar styles to the Octagon. They are both efficient strikers and submission artists which includes a combined 36 finishes between them. "Shogun" has been linked to some epic wars around his career, and a fight with Teixeira has each of the makings for another traditional.
A win over "Shogun" would probably still probably put Teixeira one or more more quality fight far from a title shot, but it would go a considerable ways in proving that he is more than just buildup.
And if Teixeira are able to finish Rua in striking fashion, it will be difficult don't consider him a true force to be reckoned with in that light heavyweight division.
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