Glover Teixera vs. Ion Cutelaba Booked for UFC Fight Night 143

Former UFC Glover Teixera will be looking to return in the win column when he makes his return to competition at UFC Fight Night 143 (UFC on ESPN+ 1) against Ion Cutelaba, which will air on January 19th, 2018 from Brooklyn, New York. News of the bout was initially reported by Newsday.

Glover Teixera has been alternating wins and losses since the summer of 2016, with losses to Anthony Johnson, Alexander Gustafsson, and most recently Corey Anderson via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 134. The latest win for the former light heavyweight title challenger came against Misha Cirkunov at UFC on Fox 26. Entering the year in the top five of the light heavyweight division, Teixera now finds himself at #10 and providing an opportunity to an unranked opponent in Ion Cutelba.

Ion Cutelba will enter this bout with a 14-3 record, 3-2 in the UFC. Cutelba is currently on a two-fight win streak with victories over Henrique da Silva and Gadzhimurad Antigulov, both via KO/TKO. Cutelba will look to make it three straight in Brooklyn and find a home in the UFC light heavyweight rankings in the process.

Additionally, Alonzo Menifield vs. Vinicius Moreira has also been added to the event in a fight between two Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series alums who will be making their respective UFC debuts.

The current UFC Fight Night 143 card now includes:

Ion Cutelaba vs. Glover Teixeira

Paige VanZant vs. Rachael Ostovich

Belal Muhammad vs. Geoff Neal

Alonzo Menifield vs. Vinicius Moreira