UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira has long been a part of UFC legend- Chuck Liddell’s camp. Teixeira was one of the main training partners that Liddell had.
Which is why Liddell was overwhelmed by emotions once Teixeira captured the title from Jan Blachowicz.
Liddell’s coach John Hackleman brought Teixeira to train with Liddell. But due to visa issues – Teixeira was unable to compete in the UFC for a long time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbBB2pa1U6c
“I came here illegally through the Mexico border… It’s scary,” Teixeira told “Morning Kombat” ahead of UFC 275. “No one gets a visa. It is a dream. The kids at that time used to come over here through Mexico, make a living, go back and make a little money. By a house, by a car, some of them come back again because it’s an illusion. You make this money and then you don’t know what to do with it. But that’s my thing. I wanted to go to the United States at 18- or 19-years old. I jumped into this journey with a couple of guys and we crossed through Colombia, all of these countries and then we crossed the border through Mexico.
“I was 19-years old. I was into adventuring. I didn’t really fear anything. I didn’t have any situation where I had to fear in my life. But overall it was dangerous. You don’t know who is going to cross the desert. You don’t know this person. He’s called Coyote. You don’t know who they work for. They can do whatever. You don’t know. Again, I was too young to know… I realized what I wanted to do. I came to Connecticut and I saw the opportunities. There were more opportunities than where I came from. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this country, I can be a professional athlete.’ I could be a boxer so I started boxing.”
Now the time has come for Teixeira to pay homage to Liddell – which he did flashing his sign at the weigh ins for UFC 275 which he’s headlining against Jiri Prochazka.