Glover Teixeira: I’m Ready To Go Five Rounds With Jon Jones

UFC light heavyweight title contender Glove Teixeira is one of the hottest fighters in all of MMA right now, having racked up an insane 20-fight win streak that includes five straight wins since he made his UFC debut in May 2012.

This April, Teixeira will be in for the fight of his life when he faces UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones, who currently sits atop the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, Teixeira’s fight with Jones was rumored for both UFC 170 and 171 before it eventually settled in as the main event of UFC 172 in Baltimore this April.

The delay was caused by an injured foot that Jones suffered in his razor-thin UFC 165 victory over Alexander Gustafsson, a fight that saw “Bones” put in serious trouble for the first time in his storied career. That night, “The Mauler” nearly dethroned the king but faded in the later rounds to drop a decision. No. 4-ranked UFC light heavyweight Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis thinks that Jones won’t be able to make the fight after postponing it so many times, noting that he’ll be ready to step in and face Teixeira.

Regardless, the surging Teixeira is preparing for the champ. Teixeira spoke up to MMAFighting.com to detail that he won’t be using the same strategy as Gustafsson. He’ll be looking to put the champ’s lights out in round one, but won’t be surprised if it goes all five:

“In a perfect world, I’ll win via first-round knockout. But I believe it’s going to be a tough fight. Jon Jones is an excellent fighter, so I expect a tough bout. I will be ready for five rounds. I was ready to go five rounds against Bader and will be ready now, so we’ll see who will leave the cage as the champion. I expected Gustafsson to have the advantage standing, but I expected Jones to be smart and take the fight to the ground. He was smart and he tried to (take Gustafsson down), but I didn’t expected Gustafsson to defend the takedowns so well.”

Gustafsson defended Jones’ takedowns quite well indeed, surprising many to the point where an uproar ensued about the outcome of the fight. But Teixeira gave it to Jones the first time around. He did the same when he re-watched it, noting that he saw holes in Jones’ game that he thinks the champ will improve upon for their upcoming title bout:

“When the fight was over, I thought Jon had won, and I re-watched it later and scored it to Jones again. We see holes in every fight but this last one showed more. But I can’t train focused on that. I have to believe in my boxing and wrestling to impose my game. He’s a super champion and will be back stronger after he studies his own weaknesses. I can’t focus on that.”

It sounds like Teixeira has a good focus in place, giving credit to the longtime champ while also believing in his ability to adapt in what should be the toughest fight of his career. Teixeira has looked nearly unstoppable in his UFC tenure up to this point, but he did give us a bit of a scare when he was wobbled by a Ryan Bader power shot in the main event of UFC Fight Night 28 last September. He came back to knock out “Darth,” but a bit of lingering doubt may still reside.

Teixeira will soon have his chance to put that notion the rest and gain the UFC 205-pound title belt in this process. Jones will need to be fully healed up if he wants to prove he’s the dominant force that he was thought to be before UFC 165. Who is your early pick to emerge with the gold in Baltimore?

Photo: Jason Silva for USA TODAY Sports