UFC 267: Glover Teixeira taps Jan Blachowicz to become light heavyweight champion at 42

Glover Teixeria accomplished the unthinkable Saturday evening.

Just two days after his 42nd birthday, the Brazilian light heavyweight entered his second UFC title fight and shocked the world by tapping Jan Blachowicz in the second round.

The light heavyweight title bout was the UFC 267 main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Blachowicz (28-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) opened up with a hard leg kick as Teixeira (33-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) pressured forward to close the distance. Seconds later, Teixeira shot in for a double leg takedown and got the champ to the canvas in the center of the cage just 40 seconds into the fight.

From his back, Blachowicz closed his guard and did well to defend the strike attempts from the challenger. Teixeira stayed heavy and even tried a pair of can openers to put pressure on the neck of the champ. A majority of the round was spent with Teixeira on top.

Blachowicz let his hands go early in the second round as Teixeira looked to bring the fight to the canvas again. This time, the champ was ready for the takedown and was able to keep the fight standing, where he would continue to find a home for crisp punches. However, Teixeira landed a hard left hand to wobble the champ and completed a takedown a few moments later.

Once on the canvas again, Teixeira quickly transitioned to back mount, flattened out Blachowicz and landed a couple of punches. The Brazilian then quickly slapped on a rear-naked choke and forced Blachowicz to tap out.

"Twenty years baby, I have no words to describe it," Teixeira told Daniel Cormier during his post-fight interview. "I keep breaking the rules at 42 years old and I'm going to keep breaking the rules."

Teixeira's crowning moment comes as his win streak extends to six. The Brazilian put together three straight wins in 2019, followed by two stoppages in 2020 to earn his shot at the title. In his 40th professional bout and perhaps his last chance at claiming UFC gold, Teixeira achieved his career-long dream of becoming UFC champ.

Blachowicz's five-fight win streak came to an end, while dropping the light heavyweight title he defended once. At UFC 253, Blachowicz claimed the vacant title by finishing Dominick Reyes and defendedit  by defeating middleweight champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 259. Saturday's loss marked his first since February 2019.