There is a certain arrogance required to be a top-level professional fighter. The best fighters are filled with hubris, believing they'll prevail no matter the obstacle.

View photos Jon Jones (R) delivers a blow vs. Glover Teixeira. (Getty) More

It's often difficult for them to wrap their hands around a loss. It's rarely about what the opponent did or the horror of all horrors, the opponent might be better.

But that kind of absolute confidence is required to make it to the top.

Glover Teixeira had plenty of it after winning 20 consecutive bouts and going unbeaten for nine years heading into his title bout with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones on April 26 at UFC 172 in Baltimore.

However, performance didn't match confidence as Teixeira took a massive pummeling from Jones. Bruce Buffer wasn't needed to read off the judges' scorecards to understand who won, and who lost, that fight. All it took was a peek at each man after the final bell to know.

Teixeira, though, is one of the rare fighters who acknowledges the ugly truth. Six months after that devastating loss, he's yet to make his first excuse.

He's preparing to fight Phil Davis in the co-main event of UFC 179 on Oct. 25 in Rio de Janeiro and is training as if he's facing another championship bout. He can't afford another one-sided loss and still harbor dreams of somehow, some way, getting another title shot.

UFC president Dana White isn't in the business of giving guys who were routed return matches very quickly, and Teixeira understands it's going to take some time. But he also knows he met a rare athlete in Baltimore.

"I'm upset I lost the fight, of course, but losing is a part of the game," Teixeira said. "I lost to a great fighter, one of the greatest ever, maybe the greatest ever. Jon Jones is a great champion and he's done what he's done for a reason."

View photos Glover Teixeira (top) fights against Ryan Bader during UFC Fight Night in 2013. (USA TODAY Sports) More

The UFC heavily hyped Teixeira going into the bout and portrayed him as the most serious threat that Jones had faced in his title reign. That's what you do when you're trying to sell tickets and get people to buy pay-per-views.

It was also a bit of a subliminal message, because the Teixeira fight was Jones' first following a titanic struggle with Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of UFC 165 in September 2013:

If Teixeira is better than the guy Jones just fought, we might have a chance to see history made tonight.

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