After guiding Alex Pereira throughout his UFC career, Glover Teixeira has admitted that ‘Poatan’s’ success has inspired him to consider returning to the Octagon.
At UFC 307 last Saturday, Alex Pereira broke the promotional record for the least amount of time between three title defenses, putting him ever closer to GOAT status in the light heavyweight division.
Although it is an incredible individual feat, Pereira owes much of his MMA success to his team at Teixeira MMA in Connecticut, where he has been guided by former champion, Glover Teixeira.
Glover Teixeira teases a UFC return after being inspired by Alex Pereira
Following his vacant light heavyweight title loss against Jamahal Hill at the beginning of last year, Teixeira announced his retirement from MMA at the age of 43.
Despite that, after seeing Pereira’s sheer dominance of the division, Teixeira has admitted that he is inspired by the 37-year-old and is considering a return to competition and hasn’t ruled out a return to MMA.
“There’s nothing (booked), but I’ll definitely go back to competition,” Teixeira told MMAFighting.
After his MMA retirement, the Brazilian took his talents to the jiu-jitsu world where he beat Anthony Smith earlier last year at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational.
“I keep going after challenges. It’s hard to stay (training) with no reason why, so I’ll definitely do something. I want to compete.
“I’ll do some jiu-jitsu, I wanna do… I don’t know, maybe boxing. Or even go back for some fights in the UFC. That’s got to be it because it’s hard, man. I’m feeling great, fighting hard with the guys in the gym,” Glover continued.
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The now head coach went on to explain that Pereira has been urging him to return to competition and because of ‘Poatan’s’ success, he is heavily considering it.
“I’ve rolled with some wrestlers, training with Sean Strickland and ‘Poatan’. I was doing some light sparring with ‘Poatan’ the other day and he’s like, ‘F*ck Glover, you have to come back!’
“I’m training well, I’m feeling well. I love this. I’m not saying I want to fight but I want to compete. If it’s jiu-jitsu, Lovato, guys like that. I wanna do some matches, that’s for sure,” Teixeira added.
Who could Teixeira fight against in his UFC return?
If the 44-year-old does decide to return to MMA competition and the UFC facilitates that, the likelihood is that he would fight in the heavyweight division instead of cutting down to 205lbs.
There are a few different options that could make for fun fights, however, fans likely aren’t too keen on the prospect of the veteran returning at heavyweight.
Names like Tai Tuivasa and Derrick Lewis stand out as fun matchups on paper, however, both pose extremely dangerous tests for Teixeira.
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