· Tom
MMA Preview – Glover Teixeira vs Misha Cirkunov at UFC on Fox 26
Date: Sunday 17th December, 1am (UK)
Location: Winnipeg, Canada
Venue: Bell MTS Place
The recent loss of two UFC stars with the retirement of Anthony Johnson and another drugs ban putting Jon Jones out of action has really hollowed out the light heavyweight division. So, the opportunity beckons for Glover Teixeira and Misha Cirkunov to earn a title shot against Daniel Cormier.
Both men are coming off devastating knockout losses on the same night in May this year but with the state of the division at the moment, two impressive wins could easily put them in title contention.
The veteran and exceedingly well-rounded Teixeira was at the wrong end of an electrifying performance by Alexander Gustafsson and at the age of 38 he is running out of miles on the clock and may resort to this being his last run at the coveted title.
The Latvian-born Cirkunov is desperate to bounce back in front of his fans after a 28-second exchange with Volkan Oezdemir left the Canadian resident unconscious. This snapped an eight-fight win streak but he has now been handed an equally tough assignment in the shape of Teixeira.
These are two very strong fighters who display their power with masterful grappling as you can see by their stats which are more evenly matched on second glance. Both are respectful of the other’s accomplishments as grapplers but both are confident in their variety of skills which could see a large portion of this bout as a Boxing match so their significant strikes are highlighted as the key stat in the statistical breakdown.
Striking and grappling stats sourced via FightMetric.
