Jon Jones praises Glover Teixeira for winning title after 2014 fight: ‘He just kept kicking ass’
Former two-time UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones has heaped praise on fellow former division champion, Glover Teixeira following their 2014 title fight – explaining how he was interested to see how the Brazilian “kept kicking ass” – when compared to other opponents of his after they fought.
Jones, a former two-time undisputed light heavyweight champion, has been sidelined since February of 2020, where he headlined UFC 247 against Dominick Reyes in Texas, scoring a close, contentious unanimous decision win in ‘The Lone Star State’.
However, in the time since, Jones has relinquished his title, ahead of a proposed and highly-anticipated move to the heavyweight division, which has so far failed to come to fruition.
Maintaining he is still in a “bulking” phase of his training regime amid claims from UFC president, Dana White that he is close to a comeback, Jones has been linked with both an interim heavyweight title fight against Stipe Miocic, or an immediate undisputed siege against Francis Ngannou – insisting that latter matchup is a possibility for himself.
In Jones’ absence at light heavyweight, first Jan Blachowicz clinched the vacant title, before he was submitted by the aforenoted Teixeira – whom was then submitted by Jiri Prochazka back in June.
Jon Jones has heaped praise on Glover Teixeira for clinching light heavyweight gold
And taking stock of his prior opponents’ run since they shared the Octagon with him, Jones praised the reemergence of Teixeira as a perennial contender and eventual champion since their 2014 title showdown.
“I think I agree,” Jon Jones replied to a Twitter user who claimed Glover Teixeira failed to continually falter since their 2014 bout, in a now-deleted tweet. “I think I agree, he’s (Glover Teixeira) the only one that kept kicking ass afterwards.”
Pointing to the continued slip of two-time foe, Alexander Gustafsson since their first, memorable matchup, Jones insisted he was interested in a graphic which laid out Gustafsson’s 15-1 record ahead of their first fight, however, the Swede has since faltered to 3-6.
“I’ve always found this interesting,” Jon Jones explained. “Seems to be the case with almost all my opponents.” (H/T BJPENN.com)
In the midst of a four-fight winning run, Jones reclaimed the undisputed title in a rematch win against Gustafsson, before securing three title defenses against Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, and the aforenoted, Reyes.
