Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Glover Teixeira, will return to combat sports after retiring from MMA, as he faces current UFC 205-pound contender Anthony Smith on the grappling mats for UFCinvitational 4.
The event is set to take place on June 29, exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.
A Chance for Redemption
Teixeira’s return will be a highly anticipated moment for MMA fans, as the Brazilian looks to redeem himself after a knockout loss to Jamahal Hill at UFC 283 in Rio, which prompted his retirement from the sport.
On the other side of the mat, “Lionheart” Anthony Smith will be seeking revenge for his own technical knockout loss to Teixeira at the UFC Jacksonville event approximately three years ago.
Smith’s upcoming event against Johnny Walker as part of the UFC Charlotte card this weekend on ABC will be critical, as he will need to emerge from that light heavyweight bout without any significant injuries to participate in next month’s event against Teixeira.
In a related note, Smith praised Teixeira, describing him as “one of the good guys” in MMA. As both are highly respected by their peers and the MMA community, their upcoming bout is sure to be an intense and exciting matchup.
UFC Invitational 4 Details
UFC Invitational 4 will be headlined by a grappling showdown between Craig Jones and Felipe Pena, with the matches expected to take place in Las Vegas as part of UFC Vegas 76 media week at APEX. More information regarding the city and venue for the event will be announced in the coming days.
Craig Jones is currently undergoing staph treatment down in Australia and it’s unknown how he’s doing. Previously he’s posted pictures of a visibly swollen knee.
Felipe Pena is back in Brazil after his Gordon Ryan matchup fell apart.
Gordon Ryan reacted to the news on social media.
“Craig vs pena? Craig thought he was helping pena to beat me. Little did he know he was helping him to beat nicky fraud, which he did, but also apparently himself. This will be splendid content either way. Either pena wins and we make fun of Craig for never winning a thing, or pena loses to the guy I’ve subbed 3/3 times in competition.”
He followed that up with a jab at Pena’s bio:
“Their world revolves around me. Imagine the iq you’d have to have to think that was a funny bio in the first place, and then imagine the iq needed to think it was funny enough to keep for 3 months”
