If ever there was a case for not giving up on your dreams, UFC 267 certainly provided a Hollywood ending for one of the sports long time dreamers. Glover Teixeira, 42 years young, became the oldest first time UFC champion when he submitted Jan Blachowicz via rear-naked choke in Abu Dhabi.
Most wrote Teixeira off 7 years ago when he got his title shot against Jon Jones but fell short of capturing UFC gold. Already 34 years old at the time, the American Top Team fighter refused to ride off into the sunset as many expected him to. Instead, he strung together an impressive run of victories, earning wins in 7 of his last 8 bouts dating back to 2017.
With several divisional records to his name already including most submission victories, and most finishes at LHW in UFC history, the only thing that eluded the Brazilian was the elusive championship belt. At 33-7, Glover had been a model of consistency at Light Heavyweight for well over a decade. But even the most staunch Teixeira supporter had to know heading into UFC 267 that if he fell short this time, it wasn’t likely he’d be seeing another title shot. Father time always wins in the end.
For some, the knowledge that this would be their “last shot” could have been mentally draining. Yet all week long leading up to their bout, Teixeira looked calm and focused. Clearly drawing on the benefit of his 19 years of experience as a professional MMA fighter. Blachowicz entered the fight as a -290 favourite at the MyBookie sportsbook. But it would be the veteran who would control the pace of the fight in the early going.
Then, at 3:02 of the 2nd round, the moment Teixeira had been waiting his entire adult for finally came:
Following the victory, Teixeira had this to say about his journey to capture LHW gold:
The outpouring of support was instantaneous from fighters, celebrities, fans, and media from around the globe. On Saturday October 30th, one of the true journeymen of the sport, and one of the most well respected fighters in the game finally earned his belt. But before you assume Glover is considering going out on top, Teixeira was quick to point out in his post fight conference that he plans on sticking around to defend his title for a little bit longer.