Josh Thomson explains why Glover Teixeira rejected the opportunity to fight for title at UFC 282: "He wants to probably let the dust settle"

Glover Teixeira was all but ready to try and reclaim the title he lost at UFC 275 against Jiri Prochazka on December 11th. The Brazilian was set to rematch Prochazka in the main event of UFC 282, just six months after their Fight of the Year Contender at UFC 275.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion announced that he vacated the title on November 24th. Prochazka sustained what Dana White described at 'the worst shoulder injury the doctors have seen in UFC history' while training.

Glover Teixeira turned down the opportunity to fight an alternative opponent on such short notice. This meant that Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev were awarded the chance to fight for the vacant title.

Bellator analyst Josh Thomson stated that Teixeira refused to fight a short-notice opponent because it probably served him better to see where the chips fell. On the latest episode of the Weighing In podcast, Thomsan said this:

"Glover at the age he is, can't afford to take a loss and he knows that. So he probably wants to let the dust settle and see how these two guys fight. He is probably hoping that Jan [Blachowicz] wins. That's a good fight for him."

Watch the video below from 1:08:00:

Glover Teixeira has already faced Jan Blachowicz before, when the Brazilian won the title at UFC 267. He was able to dominate Blachowicz on the ground and submitted his opponent via rear naked choke.

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Glover Teixeira says he 'needed more time' in order to prepare for a change in opponent

Glover Teixeira was a few weeks away from a rematch with Jiri Prochazka in the main event of UFC 282. Despite the highly anticipated matchup not taking place, the main event on December 11th will still be contested for the UFC light heavyweight belt.

Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev will now do battle at UFC 282, but only because Teixeira refused to fight a short-notice opponent. In a recent interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA, Teixeira said the following:

"I told the I needed more time for [Magomed Ankalaev]. I said, 'What about fighting in Brazil?' [UFC] denied that and said they needed someone to fight in Vegas."

See the photo below:

Glover Teixeira will most likely face the winner of the bout between Blachowicz and Ankalaev. The Brazilian will hope that the additional time to prepare will make all the difference should he face the eventual winner at UFC 282.