Glover Teixeira has downplayed Jiri Prochazka's winning streak ahead of their light-heavyweight title fight because most of his victories have come outside of the UFC.
Teixeira defends his 205lb belt for the first time this Saturday night at UFC 275 against No.2 contender Prochazka, who is unbeaten in 12 fights. With a win streak dating back seven years, just two of Prochazka's wins have come in the UFC, knocking out both Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes.
Prochazka finds himself in unprecedented territory to be competing for a UFC title so soon into his stint in the promotion. Teixeira thinks putting together a win streak as long as Prochazka's will be a hard task to keep up whilst he is in the UFC.
"It's different … It's very hard to do in the UFC. When I fought Jon Jones I was coming off a [long winning streak], something like that too. With many knockouts," Teixeira told reporters. "It's not in the UFC. It's hard to do in the UFC. That doesn't mean much. I know he's a great fighter, he's a tough fighter, but it'd be hard to do a [similar] winning streak in here.
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“He does some things I like. He’s freaking dangerous, unpredictable, but has certain things, [like] the ground game, some movements he does. I won’t comment here about his movements, but will have a nice strategy for him.
“I wouldn’t call him crazy, but sometimes he does crazy things. I can’t compare him to someone like Jon Jones, the top fighters, the best of the best of the division. He does pretty cool things, throws unpredictable attacks, things that are hard to study. [But] he has mistakes, too.”
Teixeira became the second-oldest champion in UFC history by winning the light-heavyweight belt against Jan Blachowicz last October, just two days after his 42nd birthday. Prochazka, 29, has already racked up 32 professional fights despite starting his career a decade later than Teixeira.
20 years deep into his career, Teixeira said he is still unsure of when he will hang up his gloves. "Who knows? After this fight or after the next fight, who knows how long I'm going to fight [or] if I'm going to be fighting until 45 years old.
"I'm feeling great. I'm feeling good. I don't have any major injuries, because we all do a little bit, after 20 years in the game, but I don't know. I'm just living in the moment. Let tomorrow take care of itself," he added."
