Glover Teixeira destroys Anthony Smith in the main event of UFC Fight Night Jacksonville
In the main event of tonight's UFC Jacksonville, UFC Light Heavyweight veteran Glover Teixeira made his triumphant return to the Octagon with a brutal TKO win over former UFC Light Heavyweight Title contender Anthony 'Lionheart' Smith.
Glover Teixeira finishes-off Anthony Smith at UFC Jacksonville
Smith and Teixeira engaged quite a bit in the first round, with the latter definitely looking the more energetic of the two. From what it looked like, tonight has all been about unusual timeouts, as Smith was also caught below the belt but nevertheless, 'Lionheart' looked sharp throughout the entire round.
Quite the solid second round for both fighters, as Smith's right hand landed right on point, however, at the 1:50 mark, Teixeira caught the former with a flurry of punches and pushed the former against the fence. 'Lionheart' finally started to slow down a bit and was heavy breathing but was pretty much still in the fight.
The fight resumed in the third and Teixeira brought the same energy. An uppercut from the veteran light heavyweight, followed by a rally of punches and Smith was finally down on his back. Glover tried capitalizing on Smith, who was in deep, deep trouble by this point. 'Lionheart' continued defending himself and somehow made it to the end of the third round. Huge round for Teixeira, nonetheless!
By this point, I'm pretty sure no one knew how Smith had survived the third and made it this far, but well, he did. However, things were pretty much the same in the fourth round and Smith was barely trying to defend himself at this point. Profusely bleeding from his face, the former light heavyweight title contender took some more brutal shots to the face and he was certainly living up to his 'Lionheart' nickname.
As the final round began, Teixeira took down Smith yet again and finally finished off the latter with some classic ground and pound to earn an absolutely impressive win via TKO. The ever-humble Glover Teixeira immediately helped 'Lionheart' back on his feet and full credits to the veteran for putting out such an impressive performance.