SUNRISE, Fla. – Glover Teixeira (29-7 MMA, 12-5 UFC) had a message for Dana White on Saturday night, but it really wasn’t intended solely for him.

Following his thrilling second-round submission win over Ion Cutelaba at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 8 in Sunrise, Fla., the perennial light heavyweight contender ran over to the UFC boss with simple but stern proclamation.

“I said, ‘I’ll be here for a little while,'” Teixeira told reporters, including MMA Junkie, following his win. “I want to retire in this octagon, and I want to keep fighting right here. I deserve to be here.”

Teixeira clarified he doesn’t believe White doubted his abilities. Quite to the contrary, Teixeira said the UFC president has always been a respectful representative of the company.

“I’m thankful for Dana, for what he’s done for this sport,” Teixiera said. “He’s always been fair to me.”

But Teixiera turns 40 later this year, and he knows that his inability to string together consecutive wins in recent years had some fans and observers wondering if his best days were behind him.

In Cutelaba, Teixeira faced a man 14 years his junior, a Moldovan wrecking machine unafraid of toe-to-toe conflict. Teixeira was tagged by a spinning backfist in the opening round, and it briefly appeared he was heading to another loss. But the Brazilian dug deep, shaking out the cobwebs and weathering the storm before getting the fight to the floor in the second round and scoring a submission win that also got him a “Performance of the Night” bonus, and a little share of some UFC history.

“I knew that he was going to come strong in the first round,” Teixeira said. “I knew the second and third round, I was going to be able to finish this fight. I was confident I was going to finish this fight.

“I wanted to finish this fight by submission because I want that record. Now I’m tied with Jon Jones for the most submissions at light heavyweight. I’m pretty happy about that.”

Teixeira also now owns a two-fight winning streak, his first consecutive victories since 2016. The veteran believes he still belongs among the division’s elite, and he wants to make sure everyone else is on that same page.

“For me, I need to get the winning streak and say that I deserve to be here,” Teixeira said.

To hear more from Teixeira, check out the video above.

For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN+ 8, check out the UFC Events section of the site.