UFC Fight Night 109 Fight Card: Alexander Gustafsson vs Glover Teixeira preview

UFC Fight Night 109 fight card: Alexander Gustafsson vs Glover Teixeira preview
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight Heavyweight veterans Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira can clash TONIGHT (May twenty eight, 2017) at UFC Fight Night 109 within Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden.

Gustafsson is often the division’s forgotten competitor. a part of that stems from his high-profile title losses, however it conjointly doesn’t facilitate that Gustafsson looked fairly average in his recent win.

The Swede must win massive here.

Teixeira is during a similar position, except most of his recent victories came via stoppage. one in every of the division’s longest prime fighters, “Hands of Stone” has a chance to bounce back into the title picture with a win tonight.

Let’s take a look at the keys to victory for both men.

Alexander Gustafsson

Record: 17-4

Key Wins: Mauricio Rua (UFC on FOX 5), Jimi Manuwa (UFC Fight Night 37), Thiago Silva (UFC on Fuel TV 2)

Key Losses: Daniel Cormier (UFC 192), Jon Jones (UFC 165), Anthony Johnson (UFC on FOX 14)

Keys to Victory: Gustafsson has perhaps the fleetest feet in his division. “The Mauler” circles and moves well, obtaining the foremost out of his rangy boxing and ironclad takedown defense within the method.

In this bout, Gustafsson just about simply must avoid the 2 major weapons of his opponent: the overhand right and also the high crotch takedown. If he will avoid those, the remainder of Teixeira’s game could be a heap less alarming.

Maintaining vary is that the answer to each potential issues. Gustafsson contains a long, sharp jab and wishes to form full use of it. If he will stab at Teixeira’s face too soon, it'll open up his power punches because the fight develops.

Admittedly, the overhand could be a nice counter to the jab. If, however, Gustafsson keeps his feints active and mixes in some gruelling left hooks, he ought to be able to throw off his foe’s temporal arrangement and penalise the tried counters.

It’s conjointly worth-noting that Gustafsson is that the superior football player of the 2. If he will combine kicks up the center into his attack, Teixeira can have an excellent harder time closing the gap.

Glover Teixeira

Record: 26-5

Key Wins: Ryan Bader (UFC 160), Rashad Evans (UFC on FOX 19), Ovince St. Preux (UFC Fight Night 73), Quinton Jackson (UFC on FOX 6)

Key Losses: Jon Jones (UFC 172), Anthony Johnson (UFC 202), Phil Davis (UFC 179)

Keys to Victory: Teixeira could be a easy however viciously effective fighter. On his feet, Teixeira pressures opponents together with his finger on the trigger, waiting to sling his paw into their jaw. At any purpose, he will switch it up with one leg takedown, which can cause his robust jiu-jitsu game.

This bout will certainly sway be a rhetorical challenge for Teixeira. He excels within the pocket, however Gustafsson has tried to be a tough man to hit cleanly from that vary, as he’s quite good at boxing from where he wants to.

To that end, Teixeira may want to take a page from Daniel Cormier’s book and use the clinch/takedown attempts to close range. Teixeira may not be able to control a collar-tie quite as well as the Olympian, but he could break away with punches in bunches.

If Gustafsson is flat like his last performance, that may be all it takes.

If not, clinch work is wearing. If Teixeira can slow Gustafsson down — a few well-placed low kicks would help too — he’ll be able to find his distance more often, and create better opportunities to land his knockout punches.
Bottom Line: It’s one of the strongest fights around in the current 205 lbs. landscape.

It’s also something of a must-win fight for both men, who are currently in the fringe of the elite. They have shown the talent to compete with the best in the world in the past, but it’s been some time since they actually scored a truly significant win. That puts quite a bit of pressure on them heading into this match up, as the winner takes a big step forward into the title mix.

Alternatively, the loser faces a serious setback. This isn’t a title match or even necessarily a title eliminator — a loss isn’t so easily forgotten. Plus, their personal circumstances make it even more important. For Gustafsson, his last main event in his home country well terribly, and losing another would be a bitter pill to swallow. In Teixeira’s case, he’s 37 years old, so chances are he doesn’t have all that much time left to go on a title run.

At UFC Fight Night 109, Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira can battle within the main event. that man can have his hand raised?