Glover Teixeira is considering bringing in the last man to defeat Jiri Prochazka for his upcoming training camp.
After scoring a dominant submission finish of Jan Blachowicz to claim the light heavyweight title at UFC 267, newly crowned champion Teixeira (33-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) is projected to make his first title defense against former Rizin FF champ Prochazka (28-3-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who’s skyrocketed up the UFC rankings with two straight devastating finishes.
Prochazka scored knockouts of former title challengers Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes and was brought in as a backup for Teixeira’s title fight against Blachowicz in October. Although Prochazka didn’t get to compete that night, Teixeira was ready for the possibility of facing him and hit up Muhammad Lawal, who knocked Prochazka out in the 2015 Rizin FF grand prix final, for some advice.
“I talked with Mo because (Prochazka) was a backup for the fight,” Teixeira said in an interview with Sherdog. “Mo called me, we talked a little bit about it. … Maybe I’ll bring Mo to my camp, you know? It will be a good possibility. I’m good friends with Mo. Not just that, Jiri is a very awkward striker. Very fast with his movements, very good technique. But also he opens up a lot, and I think that’s how ‘King Mo’ got him. He comes crazy like that. He also leaves himself open for a good punch to connect.”
Prochazka hasn’t lost since getting stopped by Lawal. Not only did he avenge his loss to “King Mo” by finishing him in the third round to claim the inaugural Rizin FF light heavyweight title in 2019, but he’s won his past 12 in a row, 11 by knockout.
Meanwhile, Teixeira is currently enjoying a remarkable career resurgence, winning six straight en route to capturing the light heavyweight title against Blachowicz. He hopes to face Prochazka in the UFC’s rumored Brazil card in May, which would fall perfectly in line with his desired date of return.
Glover Teixeira sought ‘King Mo’ Lawal’s help for ‘awkward striker’ Jiri Prochazka