The UFC light heavyweight title will be up for grabs on Saturday night, just one month after two different contenders squared off for the same gold belt.
Former champion Glover Teixeira will take on Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro. The winner will take home the vacant UFC 205-pound title. Jiri Prochazka gave up the belt because of a shoulder injury, and top stars Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev fought to a split draw, resulting in no champion at UFC 282 in Las Vegas. Prochazka, once healthy, is likely next in line for the Teixeira vs. Hill winner.
Teixeira (33-8) had won six straight fights, including winning the light heavyweight title from Blachowicz in October 2021, before losing the belt to Prochazka in June last year. He became the second-oldest champion in UFC history behind Randy Couture with his title win. Teixeira, 43, is ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s light heavyweight rankings.
Hill (11-1) has won four of his past five. The Chicago-born fighter is coming off a thrilling fourth-round TKO of Thiago Santos at the UFC Apex in August. Hill, 31, has just one loss, in his fourth UFC fight against Paul Craig in June 2021, a bout in which he struggled with Craig’s grappling skills before suffering a TKO loss via elbows and punches.
In the co-main event, an ongoing rivalry will elevate to a tetralogy as UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo will once again face UFC interim flyweight champion Brandon Moreno. The record between Figueiredo (21-2-1) and Moreno (20-6-2) is as even as possible, with each fighter currently holding a win, a loss and a tie through three fights. Figureido, a 35-year-old Brazilian native, has successfully defended the 125-pound title on five different occasions. Moreno, a 29-year-old native of Mexico, defeated Kai Kara-France at UFC 277 to earn the interim title.
Also on the card, Gilbert Burns returns to Brazil to face Neil Magny in a welterweight bout, women’s flyweight title contenders Jessica Andrade and Lauren Murphy clash and fellow light heavyweights Craig and Johnny Walker will do battle to kickoff the main card.
Follow along as Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim recap all the action or watch the fights live on ESPN+ PPV.