Born: October 28, 1979 (Age: 43)
Division: Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’2”
Reach: 76”
Record: 33-8
Association: Teixeira MMA and Fitness
Stage of Career: Post-Prime
Summary: Teixeira is one of the most inspirational fighters in MMA
history, a man who exemplifies all the highest, most honorable
qualities of the martial arts. He is past his prime and has lost a
couple of steps, being noticeably slower with his movements and
reactions, making him easier to hit, with a more vulnerable chin.
Nevertheless, thanks to his incredible intelligence and toughness,
among the very best the sport has ever seen, he manages to find
ways to win against much younger, more physically gifted opponents.
Whether through his striking, which is still very technical and
powerful, if slower and more stationary, or through his excellent
grappling, with a sensational top game, Teixeira continues finding
paths to victory. Oftentimes, this path involves Teixeira being
badly hurt by strikes and close to being knocked out, but he never
gives up and—usually—finds a way to come back.
STRIKING
• Stance: Orthodox
• Hand Speed: Below average, due to his age.
• Jab: Good, even now; a technical, straight, and powerful set-up
for his right hands.
• Cross: Excellent; crushing power and plenty of accuracy, but not
only is it slower due to his age, but he has started to paw with
it, not a good sign.
• Left Hook: Average; it has some power and accuracy, but he throws
it too wide and it's not technically the best, as it hits with the
side of his hand.
• Overhand Right: Very good, with a tight arc, and accuracy and
power to make up for its slower speed.
• Uppercuts: Great; they're less predicated upon speed, and are
textbook technically, highly accurate, and powerful as hell, even
hurting
Jon Jones in
their fight.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Used to throw more punches in
bunches but has to be more economical and judicious with them now,
as his slower hand speed creates defensive holes if he throws too
many punches.
• Favorite Combinations: The 1-2, still an excellent, powerful
combo.
• Leg kicks: Very good, being hard, technical, and accurate, but
now they're also telegraphed and possible to counter.
• Body kicks: Very good, with similar properties to the body
kicks.
• Head kicks: Almost never throws them, especially nowadays.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.
Teixeira's striking isn't what it once was, but he still retains
a very hard, solid jab, and a very powerful, accurate right that
can connect in a variety of ways, whether as a cross, overhand, or
uppercut. He still has some powerful kicks, though he is now in
more danger to counters. Unfortunately, his hand-speed is less, and
he has developed some small flaws in his shots, even the right
cross itself. His left hook is flawed, being wide and hitting with
the side of the hand, and most worryingly, he is stationary and
slow to react in the striking, making him far easier to hit and
hurt than he has ever been. Teixeira knows all this, which is why
he rarely goes toe-to-toe for long periods of time in the striking,
instead mixing it up nicely with clinches and takedowns.
CLINCH
• Physical Strength: Great, an enormously strong man who can
overpower many big, strong grapplers, like
Ion
Cutelaba and
Misha
Cirkunov, and can hold his own with almost anyone.
• Technique: All-time great. Absolutely picture-perfect with all
his motions, giving opponents no space for countermeasures.
• Knees: Very good, being plenty hard.
• Elbows: Doesn't throw them.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Excellent, since his own dirty
boxing is so powerful.
Teixeira loves to soften up opponents in the clinch with his
powerful knees and outstanding dirty boxing, with some of the most
dangerous close-range uppercuts in his prime as MMA has likely ever
seen. It's a little less dangerous nowadays due to him being
slower, but still an area where he can inflict damage upon
opponents.
GRAPPLING
• Wrestling from a Shot: Excellent; able to get body locks which he
can finish in a variety of ways, but also showed a very nice
single-leg in reaction to a
Nikita
Krylov kick he ran through nicely.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Excellent; loves to get waist locks and
trips, as well as double-leg pick-ups and slams when he is in a
clinch against the cage. Also showed off a beautiful mat return
against Santos, whom he took down at will.
• Takedown Defense: Excellent, being inordinately difficult to take
down, though
Corey
Anderson, an amazing wrestler, managed to do so repeatedly.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Excellent; still very capable at
exploding back up with hip escapes.
• Submissions: Excellent; his game is simple, but he has thoroughly
mastered it, being great at taking the back and locking in a
rear-naked choke or finishing with a tight arm-triangle, his other
favorite submission.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Decent, though he
can be ground-and-pounded.
• Top Control: All-time great; unbelievable how heavy he is on top
and how thoroughly he suffocates opponents, not giving them any
space for countermeasures while keeping them grounded.
• Ground-and-Pound: All-time great; his lack of hand-speed doesn't
much matter here, as he clubs opponents with a series of short,
accurate punches from left and right at a high rate of fire. As if
that weren't enough, he also has terrific elbows and some of the
very best, hardest hammerfists in all of MMA.
At this stage of his career, Teixeira's grappling is far more
dangerous than his striking. He is still excellent at getting
opponents down from either a shot or a clinch. He sets up his
takedowns nicely with his own strikes or waits to time his attempt
to an opponent’s strike. Once on top, the problems for his
opponents begin, since Teixeira has incredible top pressure and
control, making sure they stay down. Teixeira softens them up with
his ground-and-pound, still among the very best in MMA: a brutal
diet of punches, elbows, and hammerfists. He either finishes them
there with strikes or submits them. His submission game may seem
limited and basic, but mastering the fundamentals is the mark of a
true master, and Teixeira is outstanding at taking the back and
locking in a rear-naked choke or finishing with an arm-triangle.
While it is possible to get the better of Teixeira grappling, it's
exceedingly difficult, requiring downright great wrestling and
outstanding top control, as Teixeira is very good at getting back
to his feet. Outside of Anderson, I can't think of an opponent who
beat Teixeira primarily with ground fighting.
INTANGIBLES
• Athleticism and general physical strength: Pretty good. His
physical strength is great, but his athleticism is below average
now.
• Cardio: Average. Great at managing energy and can fight all five
rounds at a measured pace but begins to tire late in Round 2.
Forcing him to go faster than he is comfortable with can sap his
energy quickly.
• Chin: Decent. Had an amazing iron chin in his prime, but he has
been caught and badly hurt by many recent opponents, including
Roberson, Cutelaba and Santos.
• Recuperative Powers: Excellent; still able to find his bearings
surprisingly quickly and avoid being knocked out.
• Intelligence: All-time great; few fighters in MMA history are
better at maximizing what's left of their physical gifts or finding
ways to win when on paper, they should lose.