Glover Teixeira made news earlier this summer when word circulated that Mauricio "Shogun" Rua turned down the opportunity to fight him after his planned UFC 149 fight with Thiago Silva fell apart.
As it turns out, Teixeira will get a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion regardless.
The UFC announced on Monday through its Twitter account for the Brazilian market (@ufc_brasil) that the 32-year-old Texeira will face Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 153, scheduled for October 13 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. It will be the last fight of Jackson's UFC contract, and the 34-year-old Jackson has shown little interest in continuing his UFC career beyond that point.
There's an interesting connection here, in that Jackson had asked for Rua in his final fight, in a reprise of their 2005 bout in PRIDE (won by Rua on a soccer kick TKO, using a technique that would be illegal under the Unified Rules of MMA). However, with Rua taking on Brandon Vera next month in the main event of the UFC on Fox 4 fight card, two fighters who had been linked to "Shogun" will wind up fighting each other.
The connection notwithstanding, this is a brilliant matchup for the UFC. It's clear that the UFC was looking for a big fight for Teixeira, and with good reason. The winner of 16 straight fights, including his UFC 146 victory over Kyle Kingsbury, Teixeira is a more formidable fighter than most fans realize, mostly because his visa issues have kept him from fighting in the U.S. (and consequently, in the UFC). At the same time, he's 32, so the UFC only has a limited window in which he can be an elite level fighter. It's hardly surprising that the UFC wanted to put him on the fast track by matching him up with a former champion like Shogun. The problem was that Shogun and his management team realized that the fight had much more downside than it did upside for the former champ.
Rampage, however, is the perfect opponent for this particular situation. The bout with Teixeira is, in all likelihood, his final fight in the UFC, and with his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship win over Chuck Liddell and his years of memorable performances in PRIDE, Rampage's legacy is secure. Rampage has absolutely nothing to lose against Teixeira, and therefore, no reason not to get in the Octagon with him.
When Teixeira and Jackson get in the Octagon in October, the likelihood is that one man will win and one man will lose. For now, though, everybody wins: Teixeira has a chance to make his name in the UFC, Jackson gets a big fight for his UFC swan song, and the UFC has a chance to make its next big light heavyweight challenger for Jon Jones.
Only time will tell if it works out that way.
