Glover Teixeira battered and bruised Anthony Smith en route to a fifth-round TKO stoppage at UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira on Wednesday in Jacksonville, Fla. To a T, almost every fighter on Twitter called out Smith’s corner for allowing the fight to go on as long as it did.
The fight started with strong back-and-forth action, but by the third round, Teixeira was taking over. In the fourth round, he was pummeling Smith, lighting him up with power punch after power punch after power punch. Smith was staggering, but true to his “Lionheart” nickname, he wouldn’t give up the fight and the referee, remarkably, wouldn’t stop it either.
In between rounds, Smith told his corner, “My teeth are falling out.” That news fell on deaf ears. They cleaned him up and sent him back out for round five.
Teixeira picked up right where he left off, battering Smith to the point that the referee finally had to stop the fight.
Fighters will almost never be the ones to quit from such a beating. Other fighters will generally back them, saying, let me go out on my shield. But not in this case. In Anthony Smith’s case, his fellow fighters lit up Twitter, calling out his corner men for not putting a stop to the beating.
"My teeth are falling out."@lionheartasmith is next-level tough ? #UFCJax pic.twitter.com/VAEINpvJko
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 14, 2020
TRENDING > UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Teixeira fight highlights and results
I would have stopped the fight, corner could have saved their guy from getting finished. Some mistakes in that corner tonight. And I love those guys! Too much instruction, no crowd to filter it. Anthony Smith is a savage, but props to @gloverteixeira on big victory.
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) May 14, 2020
Fighters need to choose corners wisely. That corner should have helped call the fight and end it. In a way they failed him today. #UFCJAX
— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) May 14, 2020
Damn! That was hard to watch, I love my dude @lionheartasmith. So tough, and always in the fight. Just not our night tonight. #UFCJAX
— Zak Cummings (@ZakCummings) May 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/dillondanis/status/1260786903521075203
Love it glover ?? #UFCJAX
— JIMI MANUWA (@POSTERBOYJM) May 14, 2020
No Glover you were the one hitting hard af. #UFCJAX
— Tatiana Suarez (@tatianaufc) May 14, 2020
What a beautiful beatdown @gloverteixeira #UFCJAX #hurtsport
— Dominick Reyes (@DomReyes) May 14, 2020
What a fight #UFCJAX @gloverteixeira you are a tough MFer! Such a great fight!!! ????
— Ashley Yoder (@AshleyYoderMMA) May 14, 2020
Jon Jones you got another contender to think about
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) May 14, 2020
Wow @gloverteixeira looked great in a young and Hungary @lionheartasmith head up dude. It happens to all of us if you fight long enough.
— Tim Sylvia (@timsylviamma) May 14, 2020
Glover you looked great man! Congrats! #UFCJAX #WEC
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) May 14, 2020
Wow @gloverteixeira is an animal 40 yo wow ???????? #UFCJAX
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) May 14, 2020
Wow that was really one sided! Did not see that coming, way to go Glover
— Funky Ben (@Benaskren) May 14, 2020
Never been so relieved to see a fight stopped. #UFCJAX
— Tatiana Suarez (@tatianaufc) May 14, 2020
You looked great @gloverteixeira
Hold your head up @lionheartasmith— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) May 14, 2020
What a warrior Smith is
Much respect
Que guerreiro o Smith é.
Todo respeito a ele— Junior Dos Santos ?️➕ (@junior_cigano) May 14, 2020
Finally are you kidding me even glover was tired of hitting him
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) May 14, 2020
Amazing. I did not see that coming!
— Dan Hardy (@danhardymma) May 14, 2020
Agreed 100% https://t.co/JtzLJRreLI
— Funky Ben (@Benaskren) May 14, 2020
This one need to be stoppped now #UFCJAX pic.twitter.com/F76IGCWcvI
— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) May 14, 2020
Throw in the towel #ufcjax
— Max Griffin (@MaxPainGriffin) May 14, 2020
WHAT THE FUCK COACH!! This is getting hard to watch. I don’t want to watch Smith take more punishment. #UFCJAX
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) May 14, 2020
This is frustrating to watch
— Dan “50k” Ige (@Dynamitedan808) May 14, 2020
The coaches need to save their fighter
— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) May 14, 2020
Lol ??♂️ Sometimes a fighter just wants to go out on their shield. Some refs allow it, some dont. https://t.co/49S08w98aO
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) May 14, 2020
Bad coaching. Get him out #UFCJAX
— Tom Egan (@TeamEganMMA) May 14, 2020
Lionheart the most accurate nickname on the card next to Venezuelan Fighter
— Nick Newell (@NotoriousNewell) May 14, 2020
This is getting hard to watch now!! #UFCJAX
— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) May 14, 2020
Throw the towel or don’t let him out for the 5th. Smith is injured badly. #UFCJAX
— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) May 14, 2020
Throw the dam towel JAMES!!
— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) May 14, 2020
Yal gunna get that man’s corner fired lol
— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) May 14, 2020
It sounds like Smith has no head coach in his corner and just a group of his buds.
As a fighter you should always delegate roles way before the camp even starts.
— Will Brooks (@ILLxWillBrooks) May 14, 2020
