UFC Fight Night 143: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw - Predictions and Picks

#6 Glover Teixeira vs. Karl Roberson

Glover Teixeira is faced with a late replacement in the form of Karl Roberson

This one is a huge disappointment to me because originally, it would’ve seen Teixeira facing off with hot prospect Ion Cutelaba in a big step up for the Moldovan fighter. But Cutelaba pulled out with an injury last week and Roberson – a natural 185lber – stepped in to take the fight on about a week’s notice.

That removes a lot of the intrigue for me. Roberson is a strong prospect with excellent kickboxing skills and an ever-improving grappling game that he used to outwork Jack Marshman in November, but it’s hard for me to work out a way he can beat a man like Teixeira.

Teixeira is undoubtedly past his prime now; he turns 40 this year and is 2-2 since the beginning of 2017, but he hasn’t been losing to scrubs, either – Alexander Gustafsson and Corey Anderson are his two losses in this time.

More to the point, he hasn’t lost his chin, either. Sure, Anthony Johnson turned his lights out but then that’s Rumble, one of the hardest hitters in MMA history, and it took Gustafsson five rounds of abuse to break him down.

Roberson’s best hope for this fight is that his speed surprises Teixeira and he can catch him with some big strikes. But even then, I don’t think he’s got the capability to turn Glover’s lights out in one shot, and Teixeira is still incredibly dangerous on the ground from top position, with a rock-solid mount and some deadly submission skills.

In fact, Teixeira dealt with a fighter very similar to Roberson just over a year ago in Jared Cannonier. The smaller Cannonier did rock Glover a couple of times, but overall he wasn’t able to stop Teixeira from taking him down and was simply overwhelmed on the ground. I see the same thing happening to Roberson here, but as Roberson is even smaller and less experienced than Cannonier, I think he’s getting tapped.

The Pick: Teixeira via first round submission