Glover Teixeira explains why he agreed to boxing match against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

On the same night at UFC 283 in January 2023, Glover Teixeira and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, two of the biggest names in the UFC's light heavyweight division, made their last Octagon walks. Now, more than three years after hanging their gloves up in MMA, the former champions will face each other in a boxing match at Spaten Fight Night, which is scheduled for Jan. 29 in São Paulo, Brazil.

Just over a week before their fight, Teixeira talked about what led him to accept a boxing match against Shogun and revealed that Alex Pereira helped him make that decision.

Glover Teixeira Explains Why He Returned to Fighting

Despite being retired from competition for more than three years, Teixeira is one of Pereira's coaches and says he often does some light sparring with the two-division champion. The idea of a boxing match came out during one of these sessions. Speaking to MMA Junkie, Teixeira revealed how Pereira encouraged him to return to fighting before the opportunity of a boxing match presented itself.

"I'm always training, but every once in a while I put my gloves on, and I play with Alex (Pereira)," Teixeira began. "I play with Yousri (Belgaroui), but nothing crazy, you know, because I don't spar if I'm retired. Then Alex said, 'Glover, you gotta go back and fight.' Then Ana Hissa, she's like, 'Hey, I work with Spaten, they're trying to put a fight together. You wanna fight in Spaten Boxing?' I said, 'Hell yeah, I wanna fight. I love to do boxing.'"

Glover Teixeira and Mauricio Shogun Finally Meet

For more than a decade, Teixeira and Shogun were among the top contenders in the UFC's light heavyweight division, with both eventually capturing the title at different points in their careers. While they could have easily been matched against each other during that period, the Brazilians never clashed inside the Octagon. Now, Teixeira and Shogun will have the opportunity to meet for the first time, but in a boxing ring instead of an MMA cage.

"I fought everybody, he fought everybody, we didn't fight each other – and that's great," Teixeira said. "We retired the same day, here we are. We're gonna go in there and do some boxing and let it out, man."

Glover Teixeira Expects a Real Fight

Although Teixeira is a 46-year-old veteran, he does not intend to treat the matchup as a friendly exhibition. The former UFC champion said both fighters are training hard and will wear 10-ounce gloves, making it clear he expects a competitive fight when they finally share the ring.

"It's a fight. [...] We're training hard, no exhibition," Teixeira said. "We do 10-ounce gloves, and we're going to take his head off. I'm going to take his head off. I'm going for that. I don't know what he wants to do."

After a whole career without facing each other in the UFC's light heavyweight division, Teixeira and Shogun will finally meet in a boxing ring. The matchup will give fans the chance to watch two former UFC champions return to competition once again.