The Brazilian veteran of mixed martial arts spoke at length about the details of the defeat with the new Czech UFC semi-heavyweight champion Jiří Procházka. Glover Teixeira admitted that he was surprised by the Czech fighter and regretted one, probably fundamental, mistake.
He fought hard for almost five rounds, got out of many difficult situations and himself, in an unforgettable battle of a thirteen-year-younger Czech, flooded badly.
Teixeir was 28 seconds away from the famous victory, he would have won the Singapore duel for points, but at a crucial moment he got into an unsolvable position on the ground and after a short time of futile fighting he knocked on the surface of the octagon as a sign of defeat.
Reactions to the decisive moment of the duel varied and many expressed wonder why Teixeira did not try to fight any longer with the vision of the approaching end.
“I read it, they said I knocked out, even though Jiří only grabbed me with his hands. But I didn’t see any way I could escape,” the forty-two-year-old beater explained now.
“I was really desperate. This didn’t stop. I already had black before my eyes, everything around me went dark. If I didn’t knock, I would lose consciousness and the result would be the same,” Teixeira said in the Fighting Trocacao Franca podcast.
Even before the match, the cards were dealt clearly: Walk is better in stance, Teixeira rules again on the ground with his almost perfect wrestling. In the end, however, the Czech fighter surprised and struck his juice with the most powerful weapon.
“I thought he could only end me with one of his blows or a jumped knee. I honestly didn’t even think he could do it on the ground. I didn’t even expect him to try it at all,” Teixeira admitted.
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Even at the age of forty-two, one can learn, and the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt holder acknowledged that he had learned a valuable lesson from the match.
“Something like this happened to me for the first time in my career. Now I know you have to stay alert and never give the impression that you are better than your opponent in any aspect of the fight,” he added.
Teixeira is also aware of another big mistake that probably deprived him of winning over the limit. In the fifth round, he managed a combination of shots, after which Procházka looked shaken. Instead of another volley of blows, however, the Brazilian tried to “guillotine”.
“It was probably an instinct. When I see the situation now, I want to cry. He just bowed his head and he actually fell into that guillotine himself, otherwise I might not have used it. The chance came, so I grabbed him by the throat and hoped “It should have been more patient,” he said.
According to his feeling, he dominated the match, so he was even more sorry for the defeat.
“I ruled the whole match in jiu-jitsu, sometimes I was better on my feet. But that’s the reality. Jiří eventually strangled me. It was like someone giving one shot after another, then the opponent suddenly hits him and he falls , “Teixeira mentioned the unpredictability of martial arts.
After the match, Procházka described how he was afraid that the referee would end the duel prematurely:
“When I found out at the end of the second round how blood was pouring from my torn eyebrows, I was afraid that the referee would end the match,” says Jiří Procházka. | Video: Daniela Drtinová
