Dana White Wants Glover Teixeira to Fight a ‘Top Guy’ Before Considering a UFC Title Shot

UFC light heavyweight Glover Teixeira may have only had two fights inside the Octagon, but company president Dana White has already been impressed with what he has seen thus far from the Brazilian.

Teixeira made his UFC debut at UFC 146 in May, where he choked out Kyle Kingsbury in the second round. He followed that up with a TKO stoppage on Saturday night against fellow Brazilian Fabio Maldonado at UFC 153 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“He put on a great fight tonight against a tough guy and I have to give props to him,” White said after the fight. “Maldonado was unbelievably tough tonight, and some of the shots he was taking were unbelievable.”

When asked whether Teixeira is in line for a shot at Jon Jones‘ belt, White responded, “He’s going to have to fight one of the top guys before we start talking about title shots.”

White was then asked if Phil Davis, who also fought on the UFC 153 fight card, was a possibility as Jones’ next opponent. The UFC president was non-committal, but answered, “maybe Phil.”

Following his win, Teixeira called out his original opponent Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who was forced to pull out because of injury.

“I’d like to fight Quinton Jackson. I never talked (expletive) about him. I don’t talk about him. He was my idol. I loved that guy coming up in Pride. But he says I was talking bad about him. I’m not talking bad about him. I’m not afraid of no man,” said Teixeira.

“Step in the ring with me; I’ll fight anyone.”

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