Glover Teixeira bludgeons Anthony Smith en route to fifth-round TKO win
Glover Teixeira turned back the clock as he put on one of his finest Octagon performances to defeat former UFC light heavywight title contender Anthony Smith in Jacksonville, Florida.
The 40-year-old left Smith battered and bruised to earn a fifth-round TKO victory.
Smith started the fight strongly, landing power punches and stinging kicks from range with accuracy.
The Nebraskan started the second round with similar success until Brazil’s Teixeira landed a big right hand to reverse the fight’s direction. After that punch, Teixeira poured on the punishment and Smith emerged from the second round battered and exhausted.
Teixeira energy and output never waned and he continued to smash Smith standing up and down on the mat from round three until the finish.
Smith showed off why he has his “Lionheart” moniker as he valiantly defended himself and survived a relentless assault.
Referee Jason Herzog eventually called the fight off a minute into the fifth and final round, though many will think he should have saved Smith from receiving a good rounds-worth of undue punishment earlier.
Fantastic win for Teixeira, who looked in fantastic fighting form as he extended his winning run to four.
Ben Rothwell gets split decision nod over Ovince Saint Preux
Ovince Saint Preux came up short in his heavyweight debut as opponent Ben Rothwell had a winning score on two of the three cage-side judges’ scorecards.
Most of Rothwell’s success came in the clinch. The bigger man, Rothwell found success in pushing Saint Preux’s back to the fence and wear on the man who usually enters the Octagon as a light heavyweight.
Rothwell would stay busy in this position, landing plenty of uppercuts and crushing knees while in close quarters.
As suggested by the split decision, the fight wasn’t all plain sailing for Rothwell.
“OSP” would occasionally find success with his boxing combinations and actually floored Rothwell towards the end of the second round.
Perhaps sensing he could be on the losing end of a judges’ decision, Saint Preux threw caution to the wind at the end of the fight, landing a volley of punches and dropping his foe after the final horn sounded to signal the end of the fight.
Sporadic striking success wasn’t enough for Saint Preux though, as Rothwell is the man who leaves the cage with the win.
UFC Jacksonville: Anthony Smith vs. Glover Teixeira full results
Light Heavyweight: Glover Teixeira def. Anthony Smith by TKO (punches) at 1:04 of round five
Heavyweight: Ben Rothwell def. Ovince Saint Preux by split decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Drew Dober def. Alexander Hernandez by TKO (punches) at 4:25 of round two
Bantamweight: Ricky Simon def. Ray Borg Decision by split decision after three rounds
Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski def. Philipe Lins by unanimous decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Thiago Moisés def. Michael Johnson by submission (straight ankle lock) at 0:25 of round two
Women’s Bantamweight: Sijara Eubanks def. Sarah Moras by unanimous decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Omar Morales def. Gabriel Benítez Decision by unanimous decision after three rounds
Featherweight: Brian Kelleher def. Hunter Azure by KO (punches) at 3:38 of round two
Heavyweight Chase Sherman def. Isaac Villanueva by TKO (elbow and punches) at 0:50 of round two
