Anthony Smith's Corner Allowed Him to Keep Taking a Beating at UFC Fight Night
Anthony Smith got pummeled by Glover Teixeira Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night 171. The fourth-ranked fighter in the UFC's light heavyweight division got beat up by Glover Teixeira in an eventual TKO loss, and his corner absolutely failed to protect him.
Smith actually won the first round on my card, but after losing the second, he got destroyed in the third and fourth rounds. I scored both 10-8 for Teixeira. After the fourth round, Smith went to his corner and complained that his teeth were falling out. Check it out below:
"My teeth are falling out." ? #UFCJAX pic.twitter.com/FPeJ9181j0
— UFC (@ufc) May 14, 2020
He even appeared to hand referee Jason Herzog a tooth at one point:
Anthony Smith appears to hand the referee his tooth while Glover Teixiera rains down punches...
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 14, 2020
What is @lionheartasmith made of?! ? #UFCJax pic.twitter.com/AoJ48fm8cZ
After the fight, Smith's corner claimed he wears veneers and they have fallen out in practice before. But, frankly, given what was happening in the octagon that shouldn't really matter.
Spoke briefly to Anthony Smith's head coach Marc Montoya (@coachMMontoya). He said one thing people don't realize is Anthony has veneers, that have fallen out before in practice. So, when Anthony said his teeth were falling out, their interpretation was different from viewers.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 14, 2020
The fact that his corner didn't step in and stop the fight immediately after those back-to-back 10-8 rounds is an absolute travesty. Smith got beaten up for 10 straight minutes and his corner sent him back in to the fight.
Smith is an incredibly tough guy, he was never going to give up no matter how badly he got beaten up. It was the responsibility of his corner, led by Marc Montoya and James Krause, to step in and prevent him from taking any more damage. That didn't happen. They let him go out for the fifth round.
Obviously it didn't last long. Teixeira gained full-mount on Smith early in the fifth and wailed on him until the fight was stopped at the 1:04 mark. It never should have gotten that far and he never should have taken that much punishment.
I know Dana White won't do it, but Smiths' corner should be fined or sanctioned in some way for allowing a clearly injured fighter to continue. It was an embarrassment to MMA. Montoya and Krause should be ashamed of themselves for their performance.