- Glover Teixeira defeated Anthony Smith last night at UFC Fight Night 171.
- It was a fantastic battle in which Teixeira dominated.
- Dana White believes that the bout should have been stopped earlier.
- Glover is waiting for his chance to fight for the title.
Fourth in a Row for Teixeira
The 40-year old Brazilian posted his fourth consecutive win, and managed to become only the second fighter to achieve such a thing in the UFC with 40+ years. But what is more important is that he shut down all the critics who doubted in his abilities and called him old.
Before defeating Smith (32-15 MMA, 8-5 UFC), one of the best light heavyweights and recent title-challenger, the Brazilian was better than Karl Roberson, Ion Cutelaba, and Nikita Kyrilov. Many were diminishing his successes, saying that neither of these guys is among the top fighters in the division. Previously, he had a couple of losses, and that was the moment when his critics believed that he couldn’t be considered an elite anymore.
Yet, Glover (31-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) proved them wrong.
“It’s not how hard you hit, it’s how hard you get hit and keep coming forward,” Teixeira said, probably calling his doubters.
He was more than dominant, earning a fifth-round TKO with 1:04 inside that frame. Smith was looking washed out much earlier, but he continued, completely justifying his nickname the Lionheart.
At one point, he complained to his corner that “he feels his teeth are coming out.” In those moments, Glover was all around him, punishing Smith’s every step, and inflicting him one hell of a beating.
Everything will be clear to you once we say that the American ended the fight with several teeth lost, broken nose, and a fractured orbital bone.
Dana White believed that the judge in the ring should have ended the fight much sooner, because it was obvious that Smith wasn’t able to defend properly.
“The ref could’ve stopped that in the fourth,” White said. “Us sitting on the outside, it was a little tough to watch.”
What Next For Teixeira?
According to several experts and his colleagues, such as Daniel Cormier, the Brazilian is looking fantastic and should be in talks regarding the title fight. Teixeira challenged Jon Jones at the UFC 172, but lost that fight via unanimous decision. It was six years ago, and ever since, he didn’t have another chance to be in the same position.
Smith was one of the latest challengers, which means that Teixeira now has a legit reason to ask for his turn, but the current problems Jon Joes has are complicating the matter.
Bones was arrested recently, and his status in the UFC is highly questionable. He could face another title-strip, which would confuse the situation even more. If that happens, Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos already announced that they want to fight for the vacant title, and it seems that it would be the case after both guys started to push hard for that already now.
That would mean more waiting for Teixeira.
