Biggest Winners, Loser For ‘Santos vs Teixeira’

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) staged UFC Vegas 13 last night (Sat., Nov. 7, 2020) inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a Light Heavyweight bout that saw Glover Teixeira submit Thiago Santos in a highly-entertaining bout (see it again here). Also in main card action, Andrei Arlovski defeated Tanner Boser to pick up his second straight win (recap), while Khalid Taha and Raoni Barcelos put on a show in a thrilling Bantamweight bout.

Biggest Winner: Glover Teixeira

Teixeira just keeps on winning. “Hands of Stone” picked up his fifth straight victory over a very tough Santos to put him right at the front of the championship line. After Israel Adesanya, of course. The 41-year old slugger channeled his inner-Randy Couture, proving that age is nothing but a number and that he can still hang with the best in the world. In the fight, Teixeira showed true grit, surviving several of Santos’ powerful bombs to come out on top. I don’t know where this career resurrection came from, but it’s great to see the longtime veteran shine on the biggest stage. If for whatever reason the Blachowicz vs. Adesanya 205-pound title fight doesn’t come to fruition, then Teixeira is the man to slide right in.

Runner Up: Raoni Barcelos

The Bantamweight division has itself a new contender after Barcelos put on a show last night in “Sin City.” Indeed, during his fight against Khalid Taha, Barcelos showed great, tight striking technique that seemingly saw just about everything land. Credit to Taha because Barcelos hit him with some bombs and he kept coming. His kicking game is great, as well. For a moment there, the up-and-coming Bantamweight looked a lot like Jose Aldo (the early years). In the end, he picked up a clear-cut unanimous decision win as well as a post-fight bonus. Don’t be too surprised to see the Brazilian standout getting a bigger matchup in his next UFC outing.

Biggest Loser: Claudia Gadelha

Gadelha’s quest to get back to another title fight was stalled after getting out-worked by Yan Xionan, losing a clear-cut unanimous decision. Coming into the fight, Gadelha was already calling for a title shot prior to the bout, but she just can’t seem to find the momentum to get there. Since losing to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her first and only title fight back in 2016, Gadelha has failed to win more the two straight fights (she came close on two occasions). But every time she’s on the cusp of a third straight win, she comes up short, just as she did against Xiaonan. Perhaps it’s time for Gadelha to start thinking about a change in weight class.

For complete UFC Vegas 13 results and coverage click here.