Glover Teixeira isn’t concerned with Jamahal Hill reaching out to Israel Adesanya ahead of UFC 300.
Hill (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) sought advice from Adesanya ahead of his title fight against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (9-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC), which headlines UFC 300 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Adesanya has fought Pereira four times, including twice in kickboxing. Adesanya was able to win one meeting out of the four – their most recent one at UFC 287 where he won by knockout.
“He is a great fighter and, for sure, he’s in anybody’s corner, he’s going to help anybody,” Teixeira told CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri of Adesanya. “Anybody that comes and sees something different with a high level, he can definitely be a help, for sure, 100 percent. It’s just another help. If you say Izzy or Jon Jones, really some high-level guys, it’s all going to help big time because of the experience.
“It’s not something that’s going to be magic. I say that all the time about me being in Alex’s corner and people saying, ‘Great reason why Alex.’ No, it’s not. Alex would be a champion, he would be where he is, anybody with discipline that have any skills of martial arts would take Alex to the top. It’s him. It’s just the person he is.”
Teixeira retired after losing to Hill in their vacant light heavyweight title fight at UFC 283 in January. He will be able to provide valuable insight to Pereira, just like he did for their common opponent Jiri Prochazka.
“Alex was there rooting for me when I fought Jiri, and Jiri got his hand raised. We were all upset,” Teixeira said. “The next time, Alex went over there and got the title from him to become a champion, and we were all happy about it.
“It feels good in a way. Like, ‘Hey, man, this guy was happy last time, now we got him.’ Jamahal is the same way. It’s not a personal thing. It’s just a game. It’s just the sport. You go in and try to beat the guy that beat you. I don’t think Alex has that in his mind. He’ll fight anyone because you just want to keep that belt.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.
