Glover Teixeira didn’t know for sure that UFC 283 in January was going to be his MMA retirement fight when he entered the octagon to face Jamahal Hill for the vacant light heavyweight title.
By the time the contest was over, though, Teixeira (33-9 MMA, 16-7 UFC) was certain a significant chapter of his life had come to an end. His lopsided unanimous decision loss to Hill in front of his home country fans at Jeunesse Arena at Rio de Janeiro marked the final stop in a UFC Hall of Fame worthy run.
It wasn’t only that Teixeira was beaten. It was the way he lost that felt different, he said. It was the type of night older athletes dread. The 43-year-old former UFC champ couldn’t execute the way he wanted in many critical moments, pesrhaps signifying the inevitable decline that Teixeira has avoided for much longer than most.
“(I made the decision) just there right after the fight,” Teixeira told MMA Junkie in an interview for one of his sponsors, Stake.com. “I was disappointed with a lot of things. I didn’t want to go back to the drawing board. In my last fight (with Jiri Prochazka) I was winning the fight, I lost. With the fight with Jamahal, I had good positions on him I just didn’t have the finish. It was weird. I don’t know. I think the position I had him on the ground in the fifth round I thought I was going to have the finish and he was slipping out.
“I felt a little sluggish, a little slow. Even in the ground my ability, my mind works very fast on the ground. I already think what the guy is going to do. I know what he is going to do next, and I’m one step ahead of him. This fight, I was a little off. Then after the fight, with my face beat up, I was like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. I think it’s time. I think it’s time to hang up the gloves.'”
Just because Teixeira wasn’t able to beat a dangerous opponent like Hill doesn’t mean he’s completely incapable of pushing forward. There are plenty of 205-pound fighters on the UFC roster Teixeira could still beat quite convincingly.
With more than 20 years experience under his belt, however, Teixeira didn’t stick around as long as he did to lower the level of competition now. He only wants to be in the octagon with the highest stakes against the absolute elite, and anything short of that is not worth it.
“I don’t want to fight if it’s not for the title anymore, if it’s not for me to be the best in the world anymore,” Teixeira said. “I’m always this guy that preaches you’ve got to live with purpose in life. Money is great when you have purpose. When you know what you’re doing and you want to do it not for the money. … The money is great because you work for the money, but I didn’t want to do it just for the money. So I was like, ‘I’m done with this.’ At least for UFC.”
Teixeira might be done with UFC, but he’s not closing the door on athlete competition for good. He will still be in his gym training often, coaching a budding crop of fighters that includes current UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira.
Although Teixeira won’t be pursuing any fights in the near future, he does admit if an opportunity comes his way, he would give it a serious look.
“If I’m going to do it for the money, I do something easy,” Teixeira said. “I box a guy my age or something. Then it would be different than fighting young guys in the UFC for the light heavyweight championship.”
For now, though, Teixeira is going to reap the rewards of an illustrious career. The transition away from being active in the sport has its bumps, but Teixeira is learning to cope.
“It’s kind of weird,” Teixeira said. “I realize (after retiring) how much of an athlete I am. My whole life I go (work out) and I want to push my next because I’m always thinking about the fight. The last minute of the fight, the last minute of the round and I push it, push it, push it. Lately (I was working out) and I was like, ‘I I don’t have a fight coming up. I don’t have to do this. It’s just for fun.’
“I want to keep the pace high because I have athletes there (at my gym), but it’s kind of relaxing. It’s what I need. 20 years I’ve been doing this and always thinking about the competition mode. It’s very nice during my work outs.”
