Tallison Teixeira returns to action at UFC Macau. |
Getty/UFC
Tallison
Teixeira will have a chance to make a significant move in the
heavyweight divison is he defeat Sergei
Pavlovich at
UFC Macau on Saturday.
The 6-foot-7 Brazilian has won two of his first three appearances
in the promotion, but he faces a tall task against Pavlovich, who
is third in the
UFC’s official heavyweight rankings. With 11 fights in the UFC
and only three losses — to Alistair
Overeem, Alexander
Volkov and Tom
Aspinall — Pavlovich is a strong betting favorite at -650. That
underdog status does not worry the Brazilian, who did his entire
camp with Glover
Teixeira and Alex
Pereira.
‘Thank God He Didn’t Connect’
“He is third in the heavyweight rankings, but I trained with Alex,
who is one of the greatest in the sport, which gave me a lot of
confidence for this fight,” “Xicão” said in an appearance on the
“Overdogs Brasil” podcast. “Glover has always
been a reference for me in grappling, and Alex is beyond words. In
our sparring, he threw some hands that I felt like God was trying
to pull me away. Thank God he didn’t connect.
“Without a doubt, it was the best camp of my life. I know Pavlovich
is dangerous, but I’m very confident.”