SAO PAULO — Glover Teixeira dominated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to win an eight-round boxing decision Saturday night in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and said he would gladly take a rematch with Alexander Gustafsson under boxing rules in 2027.
Teixeira rocked Rua multiple times during their Spaten Fight Night 3 heavyweight main event, scoring a knockdown at one point of the match, to emerge victorious in his boxing debut.
Prior of the event, Alexander Gustafsson’s team told MMA Fighting they would be interested in boxing the winner of Teixeira vs. Rua next, and Teixeira likes the idea.
“One hundred percent,” Teixeira told MMA Fighting. “Like I say, I just come back today and I felt good. I think ring rust a little bit, but coming back now is just amazing. Whatever fights that make sense, I’ll be fighting.”
Gustafsson beat Teixeira via fifth-round knockout in the UFC back in 2017 to set up a rematch with Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title. Teixeira joked during the pre-fight press conference that he wanted “easier” opponents after Rua, but says ”it’s possible” to go against fellow MMA veterans after the type of performance he put on Saturday.
“Let’s keep training and see what’s happening,” Teixeira said. “Three and a half years out, maybe a little ring rust, maybe going too much, but I think now, if I have a fight in the next six months or so, maybe I’ll be better.”
Rua stayed in the fight all eight rounds despite getting hurt multiple times by Teixeira, and the Alex Pereira teammate admits he was surprised by that.
“I know Shogun,” Teixeira said. “Yes, I wanted to finish with a knockout, I thought I was gonna finish with a knockout, but I knew Shogun was as tough as can be, man. And the heart, he wouldn’t quit. Incredible. I knew that already, I was ready for that. I knocked him down in the third I think, and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s just gonna be out probably in sixth round,’ but I think I tried too much. I tried too hard. I saw that my hard punch was getting slower, and I paced myself a little bit. But for sure, I knew Shogun was gonna be difficult. But it went my way, so I’m happy about it.”
“That was my goal, to have a good performance,” he continued. “I saw everything. I saw his punches, it wasn’t hurting me or anything. I think he got one punch there that I was like, ‘Oh shit, still got it,’ but nothing crazy to dizzy me or anything. I was just like, ‘Be careful,’ you know? But I did good. I trained hard for it. And I’m happy with the performance.”
