UFC 202 Primer: Anthony Johnson vs. Glover Teixeira Head-to-Toe Breakdown

Anthony Johnson and Glover Teixeira will collide in the co-main event of UFC 202 for a light heavyweight tilt carrying strong title implications. Both men are rebounding from abortive title runs, Teixeira falling to Jon Jones back in 2014, Johnson coming up short opposite Daniel Cormier in 2015.

Since suffering through those respective disappointments, both Johnson and Teixeira have regained momentum. Johnson has won his two most recent bouts via knockout, while Teixeira enters Saturday's contest riding a three-fight win streak.

The competitive pairing presents myriad potential outcomes with both men regarded as efficacious fight finishers and high-action competitors. Both are especially efficient knockout hunters, the two combining to turn off the lights of 30 fellow mixed martial artists.

Beyond the striking arena where both fighters thrive, intriguing matchups of grappling, submissions and strategy will play out to determine the fight's outcome. Read on to see who has the edge where and how the contest is likely to conclude.

Striking

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Johnson wields a deadly combination of speed and power.

Johnson is the most dangerous striker in the light heavyweight division. A case for Johnson as the most dangerous striker in the entire UFC is plausible, given the way he meshes speed and power to produce devastating connections.

Teixeira is no pushover on the feet, though. The Brazilian has power to match his opponent's and is every bit as capable of earning the stoppage with his fists.

The skill level diverges, however, when we look beyond power. Johnson is much faster from striking range and is far more elusive. During his UFC career, Johnson has absorbed just 1.64 strikes per minute to Teixeira's 3.59, according to FightMetric. That gap becomes even more telling when you recall that Johnson spent the early part of his UFC tenure at welterweight, facing more active opponents than are typically found at 205.

Teixeira wins a little leverage back when factoring in clinch work and ground-striking, but his bad habit of taking damage in order to give it bodes poorly against a foe like Johnson. 

Edge: Johnson

Grappling

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Being underneath Teixeira is no picnic for opponents.

The blueprint for beating Johnson is simple: take him down, tire him out and look for the submission. But as Ryan Bader recently found out, simple plans are not always easily executed.

Johnson has developed solid takedown defense, which allows him to keep things on the feet. His performances against Bader and Phil Davis are excellent demonstrations of his competence. His defense isn't iron-clad, though, which we learned in his fight against Daniel Cormier. Offensively, Johnson rarely even bothers to look for the takedown.

Teixeira's takedown ability rests somewhere in the average range. Past opponents have exploited his defense, but Teixeira has shown serviceable offensive skill. While his takedowns themselves are just mediocre, he's been good at keeping opponents down once on the mat and effectively uses dominant positions to do damage.

Because of Johnson's edge on the feet, Teixeira may well come in focused on taking the action to the mat. He'll find it progressively easy as time wears on and Johnson begins to slow, but Teixeira's takedowns against Johnson's sprawl is a tight contest.

Edge: Teixeira

Submissions

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Teixeira stops opponents with more than his fists.

Teixeira is well-known for his knockout power, but he's equally dangerous on the mat. He thrives in the top game, combining punishing strikes with active submission attempts that keep his opponents playing defense. 

Johnson has never won via submission, despite having had his hand raised 21 times. Four of his five losses, on the other hand, have come via the tap. The other loss was because of an eye-poke that left him unable to see properly.

Side by side, the submission games of Teixeira and Johnson are not even in the same class. This area of the fight offers a huge advantage for the Brazilian and represents his most promising path to victory.

Edge: Teixeira

X-Factors

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Johnson will need to avoid the cage and the mat with Teixeira.

Johnson's X-Factor: Distance

Johnson is not a one-and-done fighter, but Daniel Cormier demonstrated the way to beat him is to wear him out. Teixeira lacks the wrestling skills of the light heavyweight champion but may try to mimic the strategy all the same.

The key for Johnson is to maintain enough distance so that Teixeira cannot sink in his claws. Johnson's menial ground-fighting abilities make it difficult for him to get out from underneath an opponent without expelling significant energy, which was the specific problem in the Cormier fight. Against Phil Davis, Johnson was in no danger of exhausting because he prevented takedowns, rather than recovered from them.

Though not as dangerous as being put on the canvas, Johnson will also have to avoid being pressed to the chain-links by Teixeira. This is another place the Brazilian might look to drain Johnson's energy.

Teixeira's X-Factor: Breaking Old Habits

One of Teixeira's assets is his durability, which allows him to walk through his opponent's strikes in order to land his own. This method simply will not work against a guy like Johnson, who wields the type of power nobody walks through.

To win this fight, Teixeira cannot employ an offense-is-the-best-defense type mentality. Instead, he'll need to avoid contact, either by striking more cautiously than usual, clinching or regularly looking for the takedown.

It sounds obvious and simple, but shucking these habits is not an easy thing to do in the heat of battle. If Teixeira cannot adjust, this bout will end unfavorably.

Prediction

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A win will give Johnson three in a row.

Johnson is not the most well-rounded fighter in the UFC, but he's a testament to what a couple dangerous tools can do. There are few light heavyweights out there prepared to deal with his power, even those who possess the ideal style to take him out of his game (see: Bader, Ryan and Davis, Phil).

Teixeira does offer some legitimate problems, though. He's a hard-hitter in his own right, employs passable wrestling skills and is a finisher on the mat. Just as Johnson's power oftentimes renders his opponent's errors fatal, any mistake Johnson makes against Teixeira could wind up losing him the contest.

In its simplest form, this one comes down to Johnson's ability to stay in striking range and Teixeira's ability to take him out of that range. The problem for the Brazilian is that he's usually comfortable where danger lurks and may wind up settling in.

Teixeira has never been a mistake-free kind of fighter but has zero margin for error against Johnson.

Prediction: Johnson def. Teixeira, TKO, Rd. 2