Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
The battle between top-ranked Brazilian light heavyweights once again has another potential date on an upcoming UFC Fight Night card.
It looks like the UFC isn’t about to give up on their planned light heavyweight top contender’s tilt between Glover Teixeira and Thiago Santos. The bout, originally set for September 12th was originally delayed due to a positive COVID-19 test from Glover Teixeira just over a week out from fight night.
Along with the announcement of Teixeira’s positive test, the UFC re-booked the bout for October 3rd on the upcoming Holm vs. Aldana Fight Night card. Unfortunately, that plan also had to be cancelled. This time because Santos tested positive for COVID-19.
ESPN reports that the UFC has been less hasty this time around in booking Santos vs. Texieira, waiting more than a week following the announcement of Santos’ test before lining up the fight once more. The promotion also pushed the bout out a full month from its last scheduled event, rather than the 3 weeks they planned after Texiera’s test.
Santos enters this fight after more than a year’s layoff, having suffered a complete wrecking of his left knee in his (controversially) failed bid to capture Jon Jones’ title in July of 2019. Heading into this fight with Jones, ‘Maretta’ was on a 4-fight win streak, fresh off a KO of Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 3.
For Teixeira, his bout with Santos represents what could be a return to title contention for the 40-year-old former Chuck Liddell training partner. Teixeira challenged Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title way back in 2014, in just his 6th bout with UFC. While he’s had a few setbacks in the years since, the Brazilian has remained a constant presence in the light heavyweight top-ten picture. Most recently he’s put together a 4-fight win streak, including a shockingly brutal 5th round TKO of Anthony Smith just back in May of this year. A win over Santos just might make him next in line for the winner of the upcoming fight for Jon Jones’ vacated belt.
The UFC’s November 7th Fight Night event has yet to have an officially announced location, although expectations are that it will take place at the Apex facility in Las Vegas, NV. The UFC also has yet to announce an official main event for the card, although Santos vs. Teixeira seems likely to grab that honor, as it was originally scheduled to headline at it’s first September booking.
