Ex-UFC champ Glover Teixeira will lace up the boxing gloves on
Aug. 29. | Getty/UFC
Spaten Fight Night is once again bringing the star power for its
third event.
After having Chael Sonnen
vs, Anderson
Silva in the organization’s debut and Wanderlei
Silva vs. Acelino Popo Freitas in its sophomore edition, Spaten
Fight Night 3 will be headlined by a boxing match between former
UFC light heavyweight champions Glover
Teixeira and Mauricio
Rua.
The first edition was heavily criticized for the excessive respect
between Sonnen and “The Spider,” which resulted in a fight lacking
both action and emotion. The second event made headlines for the
opposite reason due to the excessive animosity between Wanderlei
and Popo, which ended with the former Pride Fighting Championships
standout
being knocked out in a post-fight melee. In this third edition,
the promoters took care to invite two champions who, while being
extremely competitive, have a deep respect for each other’s
careers. The confrontation will be under boxing rules with eight
rounds of two minutes.
Judo, Jiu-Jitsu and Boxing
The big news of this third edition is the addition of super fights
in two modalities that are extremely popular in Brazil: jiu-jitsu
and judo, an Olympic sport where Brazil has a strong tradition and
a huge fan base. The first two fights announced were duels between
Brazilian Olympic champions Bia Sousa and Rafaela
Silva, who will face international arch-rivals Prisca Awiti and
Raz Hershko, respectively. The jiu-jitsu duel will be between
rivals and multi-time world champions Felipe Preguiça and Nicholas
Meregali.
The event will once again be broadcast live by Brazil’s largest TV
network, Rede Globo, on Aug. 29th, live throughout Brazil.