Scouting Report: Glover Teixeira

Glover Teixeira

Born: October 28, 1979 (Age: 43)
Division: Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’2”
Reach: 76”
Record: 33-8
Association: Teixeira MMA and Fitness
Stage of Career: Post-Prime

Summary: Teixeira is one of the most inspirational fighters in MMA history, a man who exemplifies all the highest, most honorable qualities of the martial arts. He is past his prime and has lost a couple of steps, being noticeably slower with his movements and reactions, making him easier to hit, with a more vulnerable chin. Nevertheless, thanks to his incredible intelligence and toughness, among the very best the sport has ever seen, he manages to find ways to win against much younger, more physically gifted opponents. Whether through his striking, which is still very technical and powerful, if slower and more stationary, or through his excellent grappling, with a sensational top game, Teixeira continues finding paths to victory. Oftentimes, this path involves Teixeira being badly hurt by strikes and close to being knocked out, but he never gives up and—usually—finds a way to come back.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox
• Hand Speed: Below average, due to his age.
• Jab: Good, even now; a technical, straight, and powerful set-up for his right hands.
• Cross: Excellent; crushing power and plenty of accuracy, but not only is it slower due to his age, but he has started to paw with it, not a good sign.
• Left Hook: Average; it has some power and accuracy, but he throws it too wide and it's not technically the best, as it hits with the side of his hand.
• Overhand Right: Very good, with a tight arc, and accuracy and power to make up for its slower speed.
• Uppercuts: Great; they're less predicated upon speed, and are textbook technically, highly accurate, and powerful as hell, even hurting Jon Jones in their fight.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Used to throw more punches in bunches but has to be more economical and judicious with them now, as his slower hand speed creates defensive holes if he throws too many punches.
• Favorite Combinations: The 1-2, still an excellent, powerful combo.
• Leg kicks: Very good, being hard, technical, and accurate, but now they're also telegraphed and possible to counter.
• Body kicks: Very good, with similar properties to the body kicks.
• Head kicks: Almost never throws them, especially nowadays.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Teixeira's striking isn't what it once was, but he still retains a very hard, solid jab, and a very powerful, accurate right that can connect in a variety of ways, whether as a cross, overhand, or uppercut. He still has some powerful kicks, though he is now in more danger to counters. Unfortunately, his hand-speed is less, and he has developed some small flaws in his shots, even the right cross itself. His left hook is flawed, being wide and hitting with the side of the hand, and most worryingly, he is stationary and slow to react in the striking, making him far easier to hit and hurt than he has ever been. Teixeira knows all this, which is why he rarely goes toe-to-toe for long periods of time in the striking, instead mixing it up nicely with clinches and takedowns.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Great, an enormously strong man who can overpower many big, strong grapplers, like Ion Cutelaba and Misha Cirkunov, and can hold his own with almost anyone.
• Technique: All-time great. Absolutely picture-perfect with all his motions, giving opponents no space for countermeasures.
• Knees: Very good, being plenty hard.
• Elbows: Doesn't throw them.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Excellent, since his own dirty boxing is so powerful.

Teixeira loves to soften up opponents in the clinch with his powerful knees and outstanding dirty boxing, with some of the most dangerous close-range uppercuts in his prime as MMA has likely ever seen. It's a little less dangerous nowadays due to him being slower, but still an area where he can inflict damage upon opponents.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Excellent; able to get body locks which he can finish in a variety of ways, but also showed a very nice single-leg in reaction to a Nikita Krylov kick he ran through nicely.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Excellent; loves to get waist locks and trips, as well as double-leg pick-ups and slams when he is in a clinch against the cage. Also showed off a beautiful mat return against Santos, whom he took down at will.
• Takedown Defense: Excellent, being inordinately difficult to take down, though Corey Anderson, an amazing wrestler, managed to do so repeatedly.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Excellent; still very capable at exploding back up with hip escapes.
• Submissions: Excellent; his game is simple, but he has thoroughly mastered it, being great at taking the back and locking in a rear-naked choke or finishing with a tight arm-triangle, his other favorite submission.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Decent, though he can be ground-and-pounded.
• Top Control: All-time great; unbelievable how heavy he is on top and how thoroughly he suffocates opponents, not giving them any space for countermeasures while keeping them grounded.
• Ground-and-Pound: All-time great; his lack of hand-speed doesn't much matter here, as he clubs opponents with a series of short, accurate punches from left and right at a high rate of fire. As if that weren't enough, he also has terrific elbows and some of the very best, hardest hammerfists in all of MMA.

At this stage of his career, Teixeira's grappling is far more dangerous than his striking. He is still excellent at getting opponents down from either a shot or a clinch. He sets up his takedowns nicely with his own strikes or waits to time his attempt to an opponent’s strike. Once on top, the problems for his opponents begin, since Teixeira has incredible top pressure and control, making sure they stay down. Teixeira softens them up with his ground-and-pound, still among the very best in MMA: a brutal diet of punches, elbows, and hammerfists. He either finishes them there with strikes or submits them. His submission game may seem limited and basic, but mastering the fundamentals is the mark of a true master, and Teixeira is outstanding at taking the back and locking in a rear-naked choke or finishing with an arm-triangle. While it is possible to get the better of Teixeira grappling, it's exceedingly difficult, requiring downright great wrestling and outstanding top control, as Teixeira is very good at getting back to his feet. Outside of Anderson, I can't think of an opponent who beat Teixeira primarily with ground fighting.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism and general physical strength: Pretty good. His physical strength is great, but his athleticism is below average now.
• Cardio: Average. Great at managing energy and can fight all five rounds at a measured pace but begins to tire late in Round 2. Forcing him to go faster than he is comfortable with can sap his energy quickly.
• Chin: Decent. Had an amazing iron chin in his prime, but he has been caught and badly hurt by many recent opponents, including Roberson, Cutelaba and Santos.
• Recuperative Powers: Excellent; still able to find his bearings surprisingly quickly and avoid being knocked out.
• Intelligence: All-time great; few fighters in MMA history are better at maximizing what's left of their physical gifts or finding ways to win when on paper, they should lose.