UFC light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos will return to the Octagon after a seventeen-month hiatus to take on fellow Brazilian contender Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Vegas 13.
This is an important fight for the light heavyweight division as the winner could take on the UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.
Thiago Santos holds a knockout win over the current light heavyweight champion and he will be gunning for a rematch against him. With that being said, Santos is coming off of a long layoff following a severe knee injury suffered at the hands of Jon Jones at UFC 239 last July.
On the other hand, Glover is having a late resurgence in his career, as he is riding on a four-fight winning streak with three of them coming inside the distance. In his last fight, which took place in May earlier this year, he put on a clinic against Anthony Smith, thoroughly beating him throughout the fight and ultimately knocking him out in the fifth round.
UFC Vegas 13: Santos vs Teixeira Prelims
Men’s bantamweight: Gustavo Lopez (16-6, 1-1) defeats Anthony Birchak (15-7, 0-1 UFC) by first-round rear-naked choke
Welterweight: Max Griffin (16-8, 4-6 UFC) defeats Ramiz Brahimaj (8-3, 0-1 UFC) by third-round TKO
Men’s featherweight: Darren Elkins (26-9, 15-8 UFC) defeats Eduardo Garagorri (13-2, 1-2 UFC) by third-round rear-naked choke
Heavyweight: Alexandr Romanov (13-0, 2-0 UFC) defeats Marcos Rogerio de Lima (17-2-1, 6-5 UFC) by first-round submission
Middleweight: Trevin Giles (12-2, 3-2 UFC) defeats Bevon Lewis (7-2, 1-2 UFC) via third round TKO
MAIN CARD:
Strawweight: Yan Xiaonan (12-1, 5-0 UFC) defeats Claudia Gadelha 18-4, 7-4 UFC) via unanimous decision
Men’s featherweight: Giga Chikadze (11-2, 4-0 UFC) defeats Jamey Simmons (7-2, 0-0 UFC) via first-round TKO
Men’s bantamweight: Raoni Barcelos (15-1, 4-0 UFC) defeats Khalid Taha (13-2 1 NC, 1-1 1 NC UFC) via unanimous decision
Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski (29-19 1 NC, 18-14 1 NC UFC) defeats Tanner Boser (19-6-1, 3-1 UFC) via unanimous decision
Light heavyweight: Glover Teixeira (31-7, 14-5 UFC) defeats Thiago Santos (21-7, 13-6 UFC) via RNC in the third round
