Glover Teixeira is currently preparing to face Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of UFC Fight Night 109.
The Brazilian has been friends with Chuck Liddell for quite some time now and when he does retire, the fighter would like to follow the example Liddell set.
“I’m going to say like (former UFC champ) Chuck (Liddell) used to say: The day I wake up and don’t feel like going to the gym anymore, then that’s the day I’m going to quit fighting,” Teixeira said at the UFC Fight Night 109 news conference. “Until then I’m going to keep fighting. … I love this sport, I wish I could do it forever. I know eventually I will have to stop, and hopefully I won’t be one of those fighters that’s knocked out and not so good any more and past their prime and everything. But I’m feeling great so I don’t have a plan to stop yet.”
Liddell retired after a loss to former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin at UFC 115 in 2010.
Teiexeira isn’t retired yet and before he does the deed, the Brazilian wants to prove the doubters wrong when he faces Gustafsson in a few months.
“With my age and my loss to Johnson I haven’t shown enough,” Teixeira said. “You know the fight game, though. You have a good performance, and everybody thinks you’re ready, you’re going to win the title and be the champion. You lose, and everybody starts doubting you. So from my point of view I don’t feel like the underdog. I feel like I’m going to go over there and take this fight. Otherwise I wouldn’t take the fight. I think (the odds are) fair.”
UFC Fight Night 109 takes place on Saturday, May 28 from the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden with Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira headlining. Fightful will provide live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
