A light heavyweight division attraction between Thiago Santos and Glover Teixeira has been booked and canceled twice by the UFC after both fighters tested positive for COVID-19 at separate times.
Alex Davis, Santos’ manager, would like to see the UFC give the fighters another chance to battle each other with the winner earning a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title.
“We’re waiting for the UFC,” Davis said to MMA Fighting. “From our side, we’ve waited for Glover when he had COVID. Glover is a good friend of ours and this is a sad part of this fight, but we understand that this is the fight to make to determine the next light heavyweight contender. That’s one of the reasons why we would like to keep this fight on.”
The UFC light heavyweight title is current vacant, but Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz will battle for the strap in the co-main event of UFC 253. Davis says both Teixeira and his client in Santos both deserve a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title.
“Thiago is the No. 2, he fought Jon Jones with two injured knees and got to a split decision that some people think he won, and no one’s ever done that to Jon Jones,” Davis said. “I do think he deserves to fight Glover, and the winner gets to fight for the title. Glover is coming off wonderful performances, too. The others aren’t on a winning streak or haven’t been in the UFC for that long. Thiago and the whole team think it’s just fair.”
There is no word yet from the UFC as to whether or not they’ll book Santos versus Teixeira for a third time.
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