UFC 267 predictions: Will Teixeira become the oldest 1st-time champ?
Ahead of Saturday's UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, theScore's Nick Baldwin makes his picks for the top bouts.
Light heavyweight championship
Jan Blachowicz (28-8)
vs.
Glover Teixeira (32-7)
It's no secret this is Teixeira's last shot at a title. The 42-year-old is looking to make good on his opportunity to become the oldest first-time UFC champion and cement his place in MMA history books.
Standing in his way is Blachowicz, the reigning 205-pound champion who has had a career resurgence similar to Teixeira's, going from a borderline UFC outcast to the best in the division in a matter of three years.
This may not be as sexy as next weekend's main event between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, but it's such an improbable title fight that everyone should be intrigued - and it's bound to offer quite a bit of entertainment value.
Blachowicz's advantage in the fight is in the striking department. He possesses brutal knockout power - just ask Corey Anderson or Dominick Reyes - which could shut Teixeira's lights out. More importantly, with Blachowicz vastly improving his skill set over the past few years, he's become a competent counter striker, often willing to wait for his opponent to come forward before making his first move. These days, Blachowicz has a lot more to offer on the feet than just power.
Meanwhile, Teixeira will dictate the action if the fight goes to the ground. He's an elite jiu-jitsu artist with the ability to pull off nasty submissions at any moment in a fight - even when he's hurt. Teixeira has relied more and more on his grappling game as he's gotten older, but it's been working for him - that's likely what allowed this career resurgence to happen in the first place.
Teixeira has a habit of getting rocked early and then somehow turning that into a dominant position on the mat, storming back to take control of the fight. The one concern when you're facing someone as powerful as Blachowicz is that Teixeira might not have a chance to recover if he gets badly hurt.
Blachowicz is the betting favorite for good reason. He's a little younger, and with the additional improvements he's made in his wrestling defense, the fight is more likely to be a striking affair. But it's also possible Blachowicz simply hasn't faced such an opportunistic grappler like Teixeira recently. Something in my gut tells me Teixeira can pull off the upset. Perhaps Blachowicz tires out and Teixeira starts to control the fight on the ground, so I'm going to go out on a limb and side with the challenger to make history.
The pick: Teixeira, third-round submission
Interim bantamweight championship
Petr Yan (15-2)
vs.
Cory Sandhagen (14-3)
This is an outstanding matchup for interim gold and the right to face bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.
Yan is a wrecking ball in the cage. He walks forward, looking to punish his opponents with explosive punches. And though he packs a punch, he's also a technical boxer.
It's going to be interesting to see how Yan's striking matches up against Sandhagen's skill set on the feet, because Sandhagen is much more unorthodox. He fights from a distance, uses movement to confuse his opponent, and in some ways is like a modern version of former champ Dominick Cruz. The big difference is Sandhagen goes for flying knees and spinning wheel kicks and finishes fights with those attacks.
Yan is the purer boxer and arguably more technical in the stand-up department overall, but if he doesn't see a flying knee coming, the fight could be over before he knows it.
The bout is also going to be fascinating if it reaches the ground, as Sandhagen has some solid grappling chops in his back pocket that could help him win the interim championship. Yan had no problem defending most of Sterling's takedowns in their March bout, though, so I'd be surprised if he isn't able to fend off Sandhagen's attempts.
I'm leaning toward Yan to get the job done with power, grit, and sharpness on the feet, but don't be surprised if Sandhagen has something up his sleeve that will shock the former champion.
The pick: Yan, unanimous decision
Lightweight bout
Islam Makhachev (20-1)
vs.
Dan Hooker (21-10)
Unlike the main and co-main event, this one's a pretty easy pick. As much as I respect Hooker for stepping in on short notice to fight a guy not many people seem to want to fight, it makes sense to side with Makhachev to continue his dominance at 155 pounds.
Makhachev is an absolute beast, a fighter many have pegged as a future champion in one of the sport's deepest divisions. Following in the footsteps of his friend Khabib Nurmagomedov, he's a master of controlling fighters on the ground before submitting them or grinding out a dominant victory.
Hooker does hold an advantage over Makhachev in the striking department, but his only chance of winning is keeping the fight on the feet for at least 10 minutes, and that seems like wishful thinking.
The bigger question to me is whether or not Makhachev gets a finish. Knowing that a title shot could be on the line with an impressive victory, I suspect the Russian contender will go out Saturday looking to make a statement to the UFC brass.
The pick: Makhachev, second-round submission
Welterweight bout
Li Jingliang (18-6)
vs.
Khamzat Chimaev (9-0)
Chimaev was all the rage in 2020. Now he's coming back after a 13-month layoff and a difficult bout with COVID-19 to remind everyone why they thought he was destined for greatness.
In his way is Li, the UFC's 11th-ranked welterweight, who played spoiler in Santiago Ponzinibbio's big return in January and whom many consider an underrated talent in the division.
The official pick is Chimaev, whose grappling will be key to smother Li in what could otherwise be a relatively competitive fight. But let me warn you: don't be too confident in Chimaev. Li is very good and, more importantly, Chimaev might not be the same after experiencing nasty COVID-19 symptoms that forced him out of multiple fights earlier in 2021.
If that doesn't turn out to be a long-term issue, I believe Chimaev is the real deal and he'll go far in the sport. Li, as a striker with knockout power himself, will be a good test for him. But Chimaev will quickly realize there's a gap in skill on the ground and use that to his advantage. His striking is devastating from on top, and I don't think there will be anything Li can do to stop it.
The pick: Chimaev, second-round TKO
