Glover Teixeira vs Thiago Santos — Fight recap

Glover Teixeira submitted Thiago Santos via rear-naked choke in the third round at 2:49, reasserting himself as a legitimate light heavyweight contender. Teixeira's grappling superiority proved decisive, landing 46 of 63 significant strikes (73%) while controlling the fight for 9:03 total, and successfully executing 4 of 7 takedown attempts at 57%.

Santos, despite landing one knockdown and connecting on 40 of 64 significant strikes (62%), struggled to implement his striking game without takedown defense to manage, controlling only 1:18 of the bout. Teixeira's patient wrestling setup and dominant positional control in the later rounds created the opening for the submission finish.

The victory positioned Teixeira back into championship contention at age 41, signaling the division's upper tier remained within reach.