Glover Teixeira will look to regain the light heavyweight title this weekend when he faces Jamahal Hill at UFC 283 in his home country of Brazil. The No.2-ranked light heavyweight revisited his old mixed martial arts gym, Usina de CampeƵes, in the Manguinhos region of Rio de Janeiro, where he reminisced on his time training there.
Speaking to formerĀ UFCĀ heavyweight title challengerĀ Pedro RizzoĀ on episode 3 ofĀ UFC 283 Embedded, Teixeira stated:
“It was amazing here, just training. Mind you, there’s two favelas. They fight with each other. Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta [imitating gunfire]. The guys will run from the cops with rifles and everything, running around here. We just stayed. One day, one time, we were in the octagon and bullets were going [imates bullets flying by] then we jumped on the floor. I was like, ‘holy f**k, let’s get the f**k out of here’. It was a good time.”
Teixeira discussed training at the gym, adding:
“It was six people living there, but there were more people coming from the area, more fighters, so we would have, sometimes, 15-20 guys training with the goal to be UFC champion. It brings me back, man, it’s amazing.”
Glover Teixeira‘sĀ UFC 283 main event bout will mark his first fight in Brazil since 2015. He will now look to recapture the currently vacant belt after former champion JiÅĆ ProchĆ”zka relinquished the belt due to a shoulder injury
Watch Glover Teixeira discuss bullets flying by him while training in Rio de Janeiro below (starting at the 2:23 mark):
Jamahal Hill offers high praise for Glover Teixeira ahead of UFC 283
During the media day session ahead of UFC 283,Ā Jamahal HillĀ offered high praise for his opponent. Despite being days away from facing Glover Teixeira for the light heavyweight title, the No.7-ranked light heavyweight revealed that he has always been a fan of the former champion, stating:
“I think he’s a great opponent. I think he’s an OG of the game. He’s been around for a long time – for a reason. You can’t be doing what you do at his age and not be one of the best of all-time… I’ve always been impressed with Glover. I’ve always been a fan of Glover. He comes every time, every fight. Just how he deals with adversity in the fights and things like that so yeah, it’s always been great to watch him.”
Although it is rare to see an opponent offer such praise before a fight, particularly when a title is involved, Teixeira’s longevity is noteworthy. The No.2-ranked light heavyweight has been competing professionally for over two decades and continues to remain at the top of his game.
Watch Jamahal Hill praise Glover Teixeira ahead of UFC 283 below (starting at the 0:49 mark):
