Outside Source
During a visit to the UFC Performance Institue, Teixeira met ex-lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. A video that went viral on social media and left many fans curious shows the two former champions doing a grappling training session. But according to the Brazilian, it wasn’t a training session.
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“Khabib is an idol of the sport. Everyone wants to be like him, Anderson, Jon Jones, ‘Poatan’ — they are all great idols. When I saw him there at the PI leading a training session for his students, I took the opportunity to ask him about a takedown he does by grabbing one leg,” Teixeira said. “Then he grabbed my arm and said come here and showed me, and we joked around a bit and he gave me some pointers. Obviously, all with great respect, because when Khabib speaks, we stop to listen.”
Texeira didn’t give details of what was discussed between Pereira’s team and the UFC backstage at the event, but he continues to hope that his protege will fight Jon Jones at the White House.
“It’s the fight everyone would like to see, but ‘Poatan’ fights anyone,” Teixeira said. “If it’s [Ciryl] Gane for the interim belt, it would be his third belt, something no one has achieved to date. Let’s see what the UFC decides.”
Among the possibilities on the table, Teixeira seems to consider Khamzat Chimaev the fight with the least chance of happening.
“He just became middleweight champion and didn’t even defend it. ‘Poatan’ is on a different level,” Pereira said. “It’s complicated for me to say, but Poatan’s jab is harder than many straight punches. He has a snap that hurts. And it’s very difficult to take him down against the cage, and if you manage to, his ground defense is excellent. ‘Poatan would knock Chimaev out, at most, by the third round.”
Watch Glover Teixeira Grapple with Khabib Nurmagomedov:
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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