UFC Fight Night 28 Preview
The UFC is full of great stories with so many fighter on the roster and so many coming from different backgrounds. One dominating theme amongst all stories is the fighters who come in to the UFC with legends before they step into the octagon. These fighters move through the lower ranks with ease as they fight in their local circuits and end fights quickly. Legends begin to form about the best of these fighters as they get closer to the big shows. Fighters that knockout the best of the best or submit the best of the best on their local circuit quickly become crowned before they make their UFC debut. Many of these fighters fizzle out though as they cannot continue their dominance in a promotion that contains the best fighters in the world. Every now and then there are those fighters that can manage the UFC and make good on the promises assigned to them. UFC Fight Night 28 will feature one of these fighters as Glover Teixeira steps into the octagon to once again try to step toward the Light heavyweight title. Teixeira fought in some of the smaller promotions for years and would begin to build his legend. After starting in the WEC with a loss Teixeira would move to promotions like Sportfight, Bitetti Combat, Shooto, Impact, and a number of other promotions. Through that time Teixeira would rattle off 15 straight wins and build a legend as the best fighter not in the UFC. When he got to the UFC many would see him as the next light heavyweight champion and possibly the only man who could truly challenge the best pound for pound fighter in the world in Jon Jones. When he entered the UFC Teixeira would show exactly why he would get the title of the next champion as he continued his win streak. He would win his first four fights in the UFC including a big win over Rampage Jackson that would make everyone notice the 33-year-old Brazilian. Teixeira is now only inches away from his chance at the belt and at the piece of hardware that everyone expected him to take. Ranked as the #3 fighter in the division Teixeira will try to win his main event fight at UFC Fight Night 28 that may just give him that chance. Standing in his way is Ryan Bader who had his run at the belt after winning the Ultimate Fighter but losses to Jon Jones and Tito Ortiz would end his hopes and push him outside of the top 10 in the division. Now he looks at the opportunity in front of him to beat a top three fighter and move into the top 10 once again. The fight will be the matchup of two different worlds as the Brazilian expresses his country’s strengths while the American expresses his country’s. Teixeira is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt that is comfortable on the ground but loves to use his heavy hands. Teixeira has a total of two submissions in the UFC so far along with one TKO from a Doctor’s stoppage showing he is good in almost all areas. Ryan Bader has a lot of the same upbringing except with an American flavour. An All-American Division-I wrestler Bader has experience on the mat but like most wrestlers prefers the ground and pound to the submission game. With three KOs and one Submission in his UFC career Bader is also comfortable everywhere. He may want to keep things standing though as Teixeira is a better ground fighter who can win from his back or on top. If Teixeira gets Bader on the ground there will be little but defence from Bader on his back making it a place that Teixeira will likely try to go. Bader has been beat twice via submission and Teixeira is sure to test who much Bader has worked on his submission defence. If the fight stays standing both fighters are very good with heavy hands as both can end the fight with one punch. In the end Teixeira is just simply a better fighter as he will likely take the fight to the ground and earn a submission victory in round 2 giving him the path to the title shot that many believes he deserves.
The rest of the card will be a typical fight in a different country and a new arena as the UFC will feature young Brazilian Talent. The first free fight on Fox Sports 1 to be broadcast from Brazil will feature some of the best talent from the country with plenty of future stars on the card. Another legend from Brazil will get his chance to make another mark on the promotion as Ronaldo Souza takes on Yushin Okami. Jussier Formiga will fight in his third UFC fight and look to earn his second win when he takes on Joseph Benavidez. Francisco Trinaldo will be making his fifth appearance in the UFC looking for his 4th win after winning TUF: Brazil. Rafael Natal will represent one of the elder statesman for the Brazilians as he will fight in his 7th UFC fight against TUF alumni Tor Troeng. The UFC will once again feature young talent from Brazil as they continue to mine the best talent from a deep talent pool. As the go into Brazil once again the UFC continues to show that the country is one of the biggest producers of great fighters and all Brazilians on the card will be looking for the home win to show that they are the country to beat in the UFC.
Fight Card
Main Event:
Glover Teixeira vs. Ryan “Darth” Bader
Main Card:
Yushin “Thunder” Okami vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
Joseph Benavidez vs. Jussier Formiga
Francisco “Massanduba” Trinaldo vs. Piotr Hallmann
Rafael “Sao” Natal vs. Tor “The Hammer” Troeng
Marcos “Vina” Vinicius vs. Ali “Puncher” Bagautinov
Undercard:
Felipe “Sertanejo” Arantes vs. Kevin Souza
Joao “The Brazilian Samurai” Zeferino vs. Elias Silverio
Lucas “Mineiro” Martins vs. Junior “Hot Handed” Hernandez
Yuri Villefort vs. Sean Spencer
Hugo “Wolverine” Viana vs. Wilson Reis
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