The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 150: Jacare vs. Hermansson

#2 Best: Teixeira shows there’s life in the old dog yet

Glover Teixeira came from behind to defeat Ion Cutelaba

I’ve got to admit, I thought Glover Teixeira was way past his prime at this point – pushing 40 years old – and after his disappointing loss to Corey Anderson last year I saw him as too slow and shop-worn to deal with the better up-and-comers of the 205lbs division – fighters like Ion Cutelaba, in fact. And at the beginning of their fight last night, it looked like my thoughts were probably right.

Cutelaba looked far faster than Teixeira and had him on the back foot from the off; he stopped all of the Brazilian’s takedowns and even had him on the verge of being finished after a nasty spinning backfist. But he couldn’t quite put Glover away and despite taking a ton of punishment, the Brazilian remained in the fight.

By the second round, the veteran turned the tables. Cutelaba began to slow down and suddenly it was Teixeira putting the pressure on him, walking him down and delivering the bigger punches. And once Glover got the Moldovan fighter on his back, the fight was largely over, as the tired prospect simply couldn’t defend against the veteran’s top-class Jiu-Jitsu game.

This was a fantastic performance from Teixeira – probably his best since his win over Rashad Evans back in 2016 – and despite marking his 17th UFC appearance, with almost a decade of Octagon action under his belt – he’s clearly still a relevant contender in the division.