Jon Jones, Glover Teixeira to Battle for Jones’ Light Heavyweight Championship
Oct 3, 2013, 1:14 AM | Updated: 1:15 am
All talks of a rematch of UFC 165’s now historic championship bout between UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson can be put to rest for the foreseeable future.
UFC President Dana White confirmed on ESPN.com that Jones’ title defense will come against Glover Teixeira on the UFC’s annual Super Bowl weekend Pay-Per-View.
According to White, it was the champ’s personal request to face the Brazilian phenom next.
“That’s what the champ wants,” White said. “We’ll probably have that fight on the Super Bowl card in New Jersey.”
Jones is of course is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Gustafsson, in what is now being labeled as one of the greatest championship fights in UFC history.
Initially, Jones was very open to the idea of facing Gustafsson in an immediate rematch, but after reviewing the fight and determining he had handily won the fight, he decided it was time to move on to a new opponent.
In a statement released to ESPN, Jones revealed his intentions to prove the doubters wrong and show the world his dominance of the light heavyweight division is far from fading.
“I said before the fight my sights were set on breaking the record,” Jones stated. “I want to crush the record. I want to beat the record so bad it can never be broken. I’m going to fight Glover and I will answer all the critics about the Gustafsson fight. I will fight Gustafsson after I fight Glover. I won the fight, but I look at it as a blemish on my record because some people think I didn’t. I promise you, he will be next.”
Teixeira, currently the number-two ranked light heavyweight according to the official UFC fighter rankings, is coming off a tough first-round TKO victory over our own Ryan Bader at UFC Fight Night 28. This victory not only pushed his winning streak to five straight wins inside the UFC’s octagon, but to an astounding 18 straight overall, dating back to 2006.
While the PPV has not been officially named yet, it is scheduled to take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on February 1, 2014. This is the first bout added to the event.