Glover Teixeira raised eyebrows earlier this year, and possibly the hopes of old school fans, by calling for a fight with “Shogun” Rua. But, in advance of his bout this Saturday with Ion Cutelaba, Teixeira’s let it be known he no longer wants to battle his fellow Brazilian star. So what gives?

Although Teixeira and Rua are longtime contenders in the UFC’s light-heavyweight division, the two have never crossed paths in the Octagon. So, after Teixeira tapped out Karl Roberson this past January, he campaigned for a fight with the legend.

Fast forward to today, however, and Teixeira’s set to face Cutelabda at UFC Ft. Lauderdale. When asked about his desire to face Rua this week, Teixeira reported this (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“I have Shogun as an idol in the sport,” Teixeira said. “I like his style. He moves forward; he’s very dangerous. And I like to fight that type of style. But right now I don’t think (I want the fight). I want to have ‘Shogun’ as a friend. He’s a really cool guy. I think I’m going to forget that story of fighting him. I’ll fight other guys. Some Americans, Russians, and not a Brazilian idol.”

“I talked to him once, when we were on the same card,” Teixeira said. “I told him, ‘Shogun,’ this thing with me asking to fight you is because I admire you a lot. I think it’d be a great fight. But it’s not personal. I think professionally it’d be good for my career, and that’s it.’

Fair enough, although, some might argue that you don’t necessarily have to dislike someone in order to fight someone in the cage. Although, maybe Teixeira’s decided that facing Rua could change how he currently feels about the star? Hard to say.

Now, does this mean the two will never fight? No. You would think that if the UFC asked the two to square off, for say, a co-main event on a Brazilian card, they might say yes. There’s no question a lot of fans, whether they’re Brazilian or longtime observers, would like to see these two go at it.

All this aside, Teixeira’s most immediate assignment is the always dangerous, Cutelaba. The rising light-heavyweight is coming off back-to-back first-round finishes, after dropping a decision to Jared Cannonier in 2016.

Here is the line-up for UFC Ft. Lauderdale.

UFC Fight Night 150 (ESPN+ 8) Main Card (9 p.m. ET):

185 lbs.: Ronaldo Souza vs. Jack Hermansson
265 lbs.: Greg Hardy vs. Dmitrii Smoliakov
170 lbs.: Alex Oliveira vs. Mike Perry
205 lbs.: Ion Cutelaba vs. Glover Teixeira
135 lbs.: John Lineker vs. Cory Sandhagen
155 lbs.: Thomas Gifford vs. Roosevelt Roberts

UFC Fight Night 150 (ESPN+ 8) ESPN “Prelims” (7 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Takashi Sato vs. Ben Saunders
265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski vs. Augusto Sakai
115 lbs.: Carla Esparza vs. Virna Jandiroba
155 lbs.: Gilbert Burns vs. Mike Davis

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