Glover Teixeira vs. Ilir Latifi Inked for UFC Hamburg

An oft-rumored bout between Top 5 light heavyweight Glover Teixeira and Ilir Latifi is now official for UFC Hamburg.

The bout has been speculated for some time, but UFC officials finally announced the signing on Friday, adding a pivotal 205-pound contest to the UFC Fight Night 134 card, which already features No. 2 ranked Volkan Oezdemir squaring off with former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the main event.

Teixeira (27-6) has often flirted with a return to a championship bout after losing to Jon Jones at UFC 172 in 2014. Though he has been close to another shot at the belt, Anthony Johnson and then Alexander Gustafsson stifled his progress. 

Though Teixeira lost to Gustafsson just last year, he bounced back in a big way by knocking out Misha Cirkunov in the first round of their fight in December, keeping him near the top of the UFC rankings and in the thick of the title hunt.

Latifi (14-5, 1NC) has yet to fight for a UFC title, but has been on the cusp of the conversation on several occasions. Like Teixeira, he frequently gets within a fight or two of being considered for a title shot, but was most recently stymied by current Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader. 

Latifi has rebounded with wins over Tyson Pedro and Ovince Saint Preux, putting him in the strongest position he has ever been in the UFC light heavyweight division. A victory over Teixeira would likely put him right behind Gustafsson in the hunt for a shot at Daniel Cormier.

This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com