Next up for the UFC on their busy calendar is UFC 179, coming to us on October 25th, 2014 from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The co-main event features top Light Heavyweights Phil Davis and Glover Teixeira squaring off in a match that will leave the winner firmly in the division’s Top 5.
Teixeira is looking to bounce back from his April loss to Jon Jones in his long awaited title shot. Prior to that, he had won five fights in a row in the UFC, and 20 in a row overall, a streak that made his title shot almost an obligation leading up to April. Though Teixeira went the distance with Jones, he was never really a threat to Jones throughout the 25 minutes.
Davis is also coming off a loss on that same April card, as he faced Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson and lost a unanimous decision. Johnson is gone from the UFC roster for now, as he was suspended for domestic violence allegations. That fight snapped a three-fight winning streak for Davis, which included a big win over Lyoto Machida that effectively sent him to Middleweight.
It will be interesting to see how Teixeira comes in for this fight. It is less than a six month layoff after his first loss in nearly eight years, so how he handles it in terms of motivation ad focus can have an effect on the fight. Now Teixeira is not a good stylistic comparison to Lyoto Machida, but both are better strikers than Phil Davis. With Machida, Davis showed he has what it takes to control and stay safe. Teixeira is more of an aggressive striker than the methodical Machida, so hopefully he keeps that edge. he is going to have to force Davis to want this fight on the ground with his superior striking, and then he has to be prepared to hurt Davis on the way in. If Teixeira is less than sharp in his comeback, he may fail to get off strikes when he needs to in this fight.
For Davis, he really needs a win to prevent a tailspin fall in his rankings. He fought four times in a year in a stretch back in 2012 to 2013, but he has been less active, notching only that one loss to Anthony Johnson as his only fight in the last 14 months. Teixeira is a tough opponent to try to start a winning streak against for Davis. Look for Teixeira to be a slight favorite at the books when the line opens.
Meet Phil Davis, as he and UFC Middleweight Cung Le talk us through the Lyoto Machida vs Dan Henderson match… A blast from the past!
