Thiago Santos Expects Teixeira to Survive Tough Start, Rally for Victory Over Prochazka

Even though he is in the midst of a later-career resurgence with a six-bout winning streak, light heavyweight champ Glover Teixeira is an underdog against Jiri Prochazka in the UFC 275 main event.

Whether that’s betting odds or a recent poll on the Sherdog website, the MMA world seems to expect Prochazka to emerge from Saturday’s fight with the light heavyweight belt in tow. Some 19 months after facing the champion in a UFC on ESPN 17 headliner that featured knockdowns from both fighters before Teixeira emerged with a submission win in Round 3, Thiago Santos envisions a similar ending at UFC 275.

"Styles make fights. If Prochazka keeps fighting the same way he has been, always walking forward, he will fit perfectly into Glover´s gameplan,” Santos told Sherdog.com. “[He] will use that to take him down and, believe me, once he is on the top it is very hard to remove him from there. Jiri´s best chance in that fight would be to move laterally as much as he can and try to get Glover tired in the later rounds.”

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The fact that Prochazka spent some time training wrestling with Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo was also taken into consideration by “Marreta.”

“Nobody turns into a wrestler with one or two months of practice,” Santos said. “I’ve been training with Steve Mooco for five years at American Top Team, and whenever I wrestle a professional they make it look easy. The same way a grappler who trains for two months can’t strike against someone like me, who has practiced capoeira and muay Thai since I 14 years old. I believe Glover survive a difficult time in the first round and submit Jiri in the second or third.

Santos is currently beginning his camp to face Jamahal Hill in the UFC on ESPN 40 main event on Aug. 6.

"I like to fight aggressive opponents like Hill. I truly hope he fights against me like he fought [Johnny] Walker and [Jimmy] Crute. I´m training hard to win this fight via KO or submission,” Santos said.

If Teixeira wins on Saturday, Santos expects him to retire after one more title defense.

"That would be the perfect scenario for me, because I don’t have any intention of facing Glover again,” he said.

When asked to pick an opponent above him in the rankings if he defeats Hill, Santos didn’t hesitate.

"I would love to fight Prochazka. As I said, style makes fights and his crazy style fits perfectly with mine. I have no doubt I would knock him out, making it look easy,” he said.