Light-heavyweight contender Anthony Smith has spoken out for the first time since suffering a brutal one-sided beat down at the hands of Glover Teixeira. ‘Lionheart’ was the favourite heading into his main event fight against the 40-year-old Brazilian. Smith looks good early on but the tide started to turn in round two and he took a serious beating and suffered a bunch of injuries against Teixeria before the referee mercifully stepped in to wave off the fight in round five.
Was Anthony Smith Let Down By His Corner?
During the fight commentator, Daniel Cormier was very critical about Smiths’ corner who for him were giving him too many instructions which he was trying to implement and as a result quickly tiring. The corner which included UFC welterweight James Krause also faced widespread criticism for refusing to pull ‘Lionheart’ out of the fight even after he went back to the corner after losing two consecutive rounds 10-8 saying his teeth had fallen out.
Smith took to Instagram earlier today to speak out for the first time since suffering a loss against Teixeira. He seemed content at home with his family and urged people to stop focusing on what his corner did or didn’t do to protect him, he wrote the following alongside a picture with his daughter.
“Everyone is arguing about good stop, bad stop, bad corner, good corner…blah blah blah. I’m still winning. I’m good, and I’m exactly where i need to be, doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. All that time spent worrying about me needs to be spent somewhere a little more productive.”
#LionheartSmith was hoping to rematch bitter rival and 205lb champion Jon Jones in the near future. He’ll now have to go back to the drawing board. First things first though Smith will need to take a seat and recover from the various injuries he sustained the other night. Meanwhile Teixeira appears to be on the cusp of another title shot, although he may need to get by one more contender if he hopes to rematch Jones.
Has too much attention been given to the Anthony Smith corner since his loss to Glover Teixeira?