Glover Teixeira continues to do the unexpected.
The light heavyweight fighter, who is 41 years old, defeated former title challenger Thiago Santos (21-8 MMA, 13-7 UFC) in an upset at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas during UFC on ESPN+ 40. It was a huge moment for Teixeira (32-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC), who is now arguably deserving of a title fight against Jan Blachowicz.
But rather than Teixeira jumping to celebrate, he pushed aside the referees and the medical staffers, and he went to hug Santos. For a few moments after the fight, they spoke to one another and embraced, a rare moment of sweet sportsmanship in a sport that can be overly brutish.
Here’s a look at their interaction after the find came to an end.
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER!
🇧🇷 @GloverTeixeira gets the finish in RD 3️⃣. #UFCVegas13 pic.twitter.com/gyFuea8T4N
— UFC (@ufc) November 8, 2020
It’s nice to see fighters show some love for each other after a few rounds in the octagon where they beat each other, literally, into submission. The moment was a small dose of humanity from Teixeira, who is a fun underdog story in MMA.
