With Anthony “Rumble” Johnson out of next month’s UFC on Fox 20 event in Chicago, Glover Teixeira was hoping to remain on the card. Unfortunately for him, it appears that won’t happen as MMAFighting.com reports that the UFC has taken him off the lineup for the night.
Teixeira said over the weekend he was open to any opponent while seeking to extend his winning streak, now at three after a KO win over Rashad Evans in April.
“I’m prepared, and I spent a lot of money bringing guys from Brazil to help me,” Teixeira said. “For sure, I’d like to stay on the card.”
That won’t be the case, and now the Brazilian will await a new booking at a later date and location. UFC on Fox 20 hits the United Center on July 23, headlined by the women’s bantamweight bout between Holly Holm and Valentina Shevchenko.
Penick’s Analysis: The best fight and two of the best fighters on this card are now off of it, and it leaves it lacking considerably. It was already not a great lineup, not for a Fox event anyway, and fans in Chicago aren’t going to be overly hyped about attending this time around. Even with a very good title fight last year between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao it wasn’t an entirely full house, and this particular card is significantly worse than that one was.
UPDATE: The UFC has clarified that Johnson’s removal from the card is to tend to a “serious family matter.” As a result, they’re hoping to re-book the Johnson-Teixeira fight for a later date. Gilbert Melendez’s return fight against Edson Barboza is now the night’s new co-main event.
[Glover Teixeira art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
Attention iPhone/iPad and Android users, if you’ve enjoyed our app in the past and followed us there, or if you’ve never checked it out, make sure to update to the latest version in the Apple store and/or Google Play store. We’ve launched a new look for the app, in line with our recent desktop overhaul. Make sure to check it out!
For current App users, swipe right to view next article, swipe left to view previous article.
Leave a Reply