NEW YORK – Glover Teixeira had a message for Jiri Prochazka during their Thursday faceoff.
Teixeira (33-8 MMA, 16-6 UFC) lost the light heavyweight title to Prochazka (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 275 in June. He will get a chance to reclaim the belt when the pair rematches Dec. 10 in the UFC 282 headliner in Las Vegas.
After a back-and-forth battle, Prochazka became the first man to submit Teixeira when he locked in a rear-naked choke late in Round 5. But now that Prochazka cut his hair, Teixeira joked it will cost him.
“You cut your hair, you lose your power – because that was crazy with the last-round finish,” Teixeira told reporters at a news conference in New York on Thursday. “That was maybe the hair.”
Teixeira was ahead on two of the three judges’ scorecards heading into Round 5. He had Prochazka rocked in the final frame, but a failed guillotine choke attempt caused him to lose position.
But Teixeira said he has no regrets going for the finish.
“The guillotine was not a mistake,” Teixeira said. “The mistake was me turning around over there and not be aware that that choke could happen (from Prochazka). That was the mistake. He was slick about it and the choke sinked in and it was the fifth round. I didn’t have time to defend. That was the mistake. Other than that, I always try.
“The fight went great the way I fought. I was finding the distance standing up, take him to the ground. Just a little adjustment that I have to do on the ground (in the rematch) because he was slippery too much. Maybe I was going for submissions too much and lose the position a little bit. (We’ll) talk about little adjustments in my game and finish him at the right time.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 282.
