Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira don’t think they’re completely out of the running for the next light heavyweight title shot just yet.
Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 40 headliner between Santos (21-7 MMA, 13-6 UFC) and Teixeira (31-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC), which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+, was thought to be a title eliminator after new champion Jan Blachowicz claimed 205-pound gold last month.
A swerve was delivered just days before the fight, though, when UFC president Dana White announced that middleweight champ Israel Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) would be moving up to challenge Blachowicz (27-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in the first quarter of 2021.
Santos, who is coming of a split decision loss to then-champ Jon Jones at UFC 239 in July 2019, admits he was slightly agitated when the news of Adesanya’s title shot first surfaced. However, he’s not going to simply allow himself to be stepped over. Nothing has been officially announced, and Santos said he sees an opportunity to swing the discussion back to his side.
“Honestly when I saw the first time, I felt a little bit frustrated,” Santos told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during Thursday’s UFC on ESPN+ 40 virtual media day. “After I spoke with my manager, we need to understand how things look. I need to do my best. I need to (beat) Glover Teixeira. After that fight, we will see what happens. People speak about Adesanya but still they don’t have contracts. Everything can change. My focus is to do my best this Saturday and make a great victory, then after that we will see.”
Teixeira’s thinking going UFC on ESPN+ 40 aligns tightly with his opponent. He said he’s not trying to overthink the situation but isn’t going into the matchup with the idea a title shot is now out of reach.
“I’m not disappointed yet. It didn’t happen yet,” Teixeira said. “Everything’s possible. We’ll see after this fight. I’ll go in there and make some noise. I never really talk too much (expletive), but I’ll have to to promote this fight and get Adesanya out of there and take over the title fight. That’s what I’ll do. Take him back to 185.”
Thiago Santos, Glover Teixeira angle to steal Israel Adesanya’s title shot at UFC on ESPN+ 40