The UFC Jacksonville event is officially in the books, and was capped off with the #8 ranked light heavyweight, Glover Teixeira, picking up a fifth-round TKO of the #3 ranked, Anthony Smith. What a fun ride this was! Smith started out hot, landing all sorts of volume before Teixeira started to punch his way back into the fight. From then on out, it was the Glover show. Teixeira continued to hurt Smith with the boxing and own him on the ground. Credit to Smith for surviving as long as he did, but it was ultimately ground strikes from the full mount that secured the win. This is the fourth straight win for Teixeira, who seems to be making a run at the belt again.
Smith got right to work, cracking Teixeira with an overhand right. He then started to pump his jab and move away from the power of his opponent. The right hand of Smith was finding a home whenever it was thrown. Teixeira blitzed in with a flurry and accidentally punched Smith in the cup. The referee called a timeout to give Smith time to recover as much as possible. The bout resumed and Smith hit another right hand behind his jab. He was doing a great job of keeping Glover at the end of his strikes.
Smith started strong again in the second stanza. He was scoring with a variety of kicks and punches while Teixeira sat back defensively. A crisp right hand connected from Smith, causing some instant swelling around the left eye. That’s when the momentum actually began to shift in the direction of Teixeira. The Brazilian began bombing away, catching Smith and backing him up. Smith would recover and make it out of the round.
Teixeira came alive in the third round. He stung Smith with a flurry and then dropped him. Glover then took top position and began to drop some devastating ground strikes. Somehow, Smith managed to survive the onslaught, but Teixeira was still on top. From the back, Teixeira kept pounding away until the bell sounded. The toughness of Smith is impressive.
Teixeira opened the fourth round with a flush uppercut that sent Smith into retreat mode. Smith then started to throw back, backing off Teixeira momentarily. Teixeira responded with a set of uppercuts that prompted Smith to shoot for a really low single. Teixeira took the back again, but opted to allow Smith to stand back up. Smith started to connect, so Glover secured a takedown and went back to his ground and pound. Teixeira found top position early in the final frame. He transitioned into full mount and let his hands go. That’s when the referee stepped in to call it all off.
Glover Teixeira def. Anthony Smith by TKO at 1:04 of round 5: Light Heavyweight
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