Glover Teixeira second-oldest UFC champion ever after UFC 267 win

Image: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

More than eight years after he first challenged for the UFC light heavyweight title, Glover Teixeira broke through at Saturday’s UFC 267, submitting Jan Blachowicz to win the title.

The win for the 42-year-old makes him the second-oldest UFC champion of all time behind Randy Couture who was 43 years, eight months when he defeated Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight title in 2007. Teixeira (33-7) challenged then-champion Jon Jones in April 2014 and lost via unanimous decision.

The Danbury, Connecticut, native by way of Brazil dominated the first round, getting Blachowicz to the ground and making the him pay with timely strikes as Blachowicz kept him in his full guard.

Blachowicz (33-7) opened up in the second round as both men exchanges punches on the feet. But a left hook by Teixeira hurt Blachowicz and as the two grappled next to the cage, Teixeira got the champion down and took his back, quickly submitting him with a rear naked choke-esque submission that saw more pressure applied to his jaw than under his chin.

The win is the sixth straight for Teixeira dating back to January 2019 with him getting a finish in five of them. The win snaps a five-fight winning streak for Blachowicz who was looking for the second defense of his title. He won the then-vacant title in September 2020 by defeating Dominick Reyes by second round TKO.

The Abu Dhabi card that aired on ESPN+ in the U.S. also saw a new interim men’s bantamweight champion crowned as Petr Yan defeated Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision in the co-main event.

Yan previously held the undisputed version, but lost it to Aljamain Sterling via DQ following an illegal knee strike in their March fight. Sterling is recovering from neck surgery, hence the interim title.