Teixeira planned to continue career with title win at UFC 283
Entering UFC 283, Glover Teixeira didn't know he was making his final walk to the Octagon.
The former light heavyweight champion suffered a lopsided decision loss to Jamahal Hill in a vacant title fight Jan. 21 in Rio de Janeiro, and he announced his retirement from mixed martial arts immediately afterward. But the Brazilian said Wednesday his plan going into the bout was to win and continue his career.
"I came to the gym today to work out a little bit. Everybody's asking me if I was planning to retire," Teixeira said in a video he posted to Instagram. "No, there was no planning. The plan was to win the belt, keep the belt, keep going."
Teixeira pointed to the brutal nature of the defeat and his increasingly difficult weight cut as reasons he hung up his gloves after almost 21 years of professional competition. He absorbed 232 significant strikes and suffered multiple nasty cuts against Hill.
"The way the fight (went), the way my weight cut has been, it's been very hard to cut the weight. ... I decided right there I don't want to do this anymore," Teixeira said. "It's time for another chapter in my life. Be a coach, be doing something else."
After years of ups and downs, Teixeira finally broke through as a UFC champion in October 2021, submitting Jan Blachowicz. He became the second-oldest titleholder in promotion history at 42 years old.
In his first title defense, Teixeira fell to Jiri Prochazka by fifth-round submission in one of the greatest fights of all time.