Glover Teixeira: 2022 ‘will probably be my last year’ fighting

As his first light heavyweight title defense draws near, the finish line is in sight for Glover Teixeira.

Teixeira is scheduled to face Jiri Prochazka in the UFC 275 main event on June 11 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The 42-year-old Brazilian has his ideal scenario laid out, which of course begins with a win over Prochazka.

“The perfect plan would be winning this fight, which I have full focus on,” Teixeira said on the Mundo da Luta podcast (translation via MMAFighting.com). “And fighting one last time in November, in New York, which is close to the city I live for 20 years, and close to my gym. It would be my farewell from fighting. That’s what I’m thinking right now.”

The UFC has not announced an event for New York, but November is typically when the Las Vegas-based promotion travels to the Empire State, including UFC 268 last year. If Teixeira does call it a career, he wants his retirement to stick. That isn’t so common in MMA.

“I’ll be 43 in November,” he said. “Regardless of being at the top, being the best of the world or not, I wanna stop this year. It will probably be my last year. I don’t wanna make this decision after a fight, but it’s what I’ve been thinking for a while. I don’t wanna retire like [Henry] Cejudo, who keeps asking for a fight all the time. I want to retire and stay cool.

“I think that’s the perfect plan. The perfect plan is to retire with the belt this year, but we have a lot to do. We have to see if it could be in New York, and I still have to beat a guy that is tough as hell. That’s my idea.”

Teixeira is in the midst of a late-career resurgence that saw him capture light heavyweight gold with a second-round submission of Jan Blachowicz in the UFC 267 main event this past October. He has won his last six fights dating back to January 2019.