Glover Teixeira vs. Ilir Latifi Set For Summer Showdown

It looks like Glover Teixeira vs. Ilir Latifi is going down.

Kimura.se reports that Latifi and Teixeira are set to do battle sometime this summer. An exact date, location, or particular UFC event are all unknown at this time. Both men are coming off impressive finishing victories.

There are many potential landing spots for Teixeira vs. Latifi. There’s UFC Boise, which was recently announced. Then there’s UFC Hamburg, where the main event has been made official between Volkan Oezdemir and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. There’s also UFC 227, which will be headlined by a bantamweight title rematch between champion T.J. Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt.

Teixeira has gone 2-2 in his last four outings. After being knocked out by Alexander Gustafsson, Teixeira answered skeptics by finishing Misha Cirkunov in the opening frame. It’s Teixeira’s 16th win via knockout.

As for Latifi, this will be a big step up in competition. “The Sledgehammer” has won two in a row. Latifi earned victories over Tyson Pedro and Ovince Saint Preux. The fashion in which Latifi finished Saint Preux was an eye opener. He choked out “OSP” in the first round.

Teixeira and Latifi are neck and neck on the official UFC light heavyweight rankings. Teixeira holds the third spot, while Latifi sits at number four. It’s easy to see why this fight makes sense. Combined both men have 33 finishes. They combine for 21 knockouts and 12 submissions. If you add the number of times the light heavyweight bruisers have gone to a decision in victory, the answer is eight.