Anthony Smith did not seem to appreciate referee Jason Herzog’s apology.
Smith suffered a fifth-round TKO defeat to Glover Teixeira in the UFC Jacksonville headliner earlier this week. However, for many observers, the fight could have been stopped sooner with “Lionheart” taking plenty of damage over the course of three rounds.
Herzog — refereeing the fight — came under criticism but it was Smith’s corner, more so, who received the bulk of it as they allowed him to continue fighting rather than throwing the towel.
Smith had since responded urging people to stop focusing on his corner but Herzog decided to apologize for a seemingly late stoppage of the fight.
Smith: Herzog Apology Was Cowardly
While watching UFC Florida last night, Smith sarcastically commented on the referee allowing the main event to play out despite both Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris taking quite a bit of damage.
“Trying to watch fights from the eyes of other ppl tonight… one guys is hitting another guy a bunch. Is this where we start calling for the ref and corners to step in? Also, what point do we get “disgusted” ?”
When a fan responded about Herzog’s apology, Smith let everyone know what his thoughts on it were.
“Coward move on his part, in my opinion.”
Smith seems to be alluding that Herzog caved into public pressure rather than sticking to what he felt was right — which was that Smith could have continued no matter how much damage he was taking.
While there certainly is a debate there, there is nothing cowardly about owning up to what Herzog may very well identify as a mistake on second viewing.
What do you make of Smith’s response to Herzog’s apology?