With a potentially light heavyweight title on the line, 41-year-old Glover Taxira managed to pull out another classic performance. Taxiara escaped some major fears by submitting Thiago Santos to the main event of the UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas.
Returning for the first time in July 2019 due to a knee injury in a split-decision defeat against then-champion John Jones, Santos came out of the Texira fast and hard in the first round. Taxira survived the scare and fell back, hitting a takedown and dominating the rest of the round from the top position.
Taxira’s glare will also dominate the second round, this time without fear. The taxiara put Santos down as early as possible and remained at the top of the entire round before seeing only Santos rescued by Bent before locking the naked cheek behind the rear.
The passage of time in the second half created a nightmare in the third round when Santos immediately knocked Texira down with his crushing left hand and went to the ground behind him, scoring with a series of heavy punches from the top position. Santos quickly got out of the gas, however, Taxira reversed the position, reached the top and soon after hitting another naked square in the back.
No safety was found at this time as Santos was forced to tap the 1:49 mark of Round 3.
“Man, his nickname is ‘Sledgehammer’ and I tell you, whatever punch this guy throws is a sledgehammer,” Taxira said after his victory. “I don’t know, I will have a broken bone in my face right now. He is insane. It’s amazing to fight him. “
The victory took Taxira’s winning streak to five and it looks like it recently challenged crowned champion Jane Blechovis for the light heavyweight title – a belt that Taxira fought in a losing attempt in 2014. However, UFC President Dana White recently called for a “fight to do” between Blechoviz and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
“Dana White, move, man,” Texira said. “I’m an old man here. Are you going to give Adesanya a shot and make me wait? Five fights in a row to this young man, it’s not easy. Give me that title shot, man.”
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CBS Sports was with you on Saturday bringing all your results and highlights from the UFC Fight Night card.
UFC Fight Night Card and Results
- Glover Taxira Def. By Thiago Santos Third Round Submission (Rear-Naked Square)
- Andrei Arlowski Def. Tenor Bozer by consensus (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Rao’s Barclays Def. By consensus decision Khalid Taha (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Giga Chicks Deaf. By Jamie Simmons first round TKO (kick, punch)
- Yan Xiaonan Def. Claudia Gadelha by consensus (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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