Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
This runs counter to his coach’s claim that his veneers fell out.
UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith started well against Glover Teixeira in Wednesday’s UFC Jacksonville main event, but it all fell apart late in round two and snowballed into prolonged punishment.
Smith lost by fifth-round TKO but there are solid arguments to be made that it should’ve ended a round sooner than that, if not when he was dropped in the third-round. At the end of round four, he told his corner that his teeth fell out, something his coach Marc Montoya later brushed off as just his veneers.
Since then, Smith has revealed to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that among his laundry list of injuries from Wednesday, he did have his actual teeth knocked out and handed them to referee Jason Herzog.
Just spoke to Anthony Smith via text.
Injuries suffered tonight: Broken nose, broken orbital bone, two missing teeth and a cut under his right eye. One tooth in front and one towards the back, he said. His real teeth.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 14, 2020
And yes, those were Anthony Smith’s teeth that he handed to ref Jason Herzog mid-fight:
“I couldn’t keep my mouthpiece in place due to the missing tooth,” he said. “I looked down and it was on the canvas. So I grabbed it and handed it to him.”
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 14, 2020
There has been much outrage over his corner’s unwillingness to stop the fight, as well as Herzog’s own decision to let the one-sided beating last longer than was clearly necessary. As expected, “Lionheart” took no issue with either his corner or Herzog, as he’s one of many fighters who will always want to go out on their shield, so to speak.
I asked Anthony Smith how he felt about the fight going long. Here’s what he said: pic.twitter.com/vv7CYaSELh
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 14, 2020