Anthony Smith’s cornermen have taken a lot of flak and “Lionheart” is coming to their aid.
Last night (May 13), Smith collided with Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Jacksonville. Smith was hoping to win his second straight bout but it was not meant to be. Instead, Teixeira extended his winning streak to four with a brutal TKO victory in the fifth round.
Anthony Smith Has No Issue With Corner
The UFC commentators were critical of Smith’s cornermen throughout the UFC Jacksonville main event. In particular, Daniel Cormier didn’t like the fast-paced style of the instructions given to Smith as he felt it made “Lionheart” fight more aggressively than he needed to early on. He then criticized the corner for not throwing in the towel before the fifth and final round.
Ariel Helwani reached out to Smith, who defended his corner.
“I’m good with the decisions the referee and my corner made. When the ref made it clear he needed to see something or he was gonna stop it, I did what I had to do to stay in the fight. I come out of battle with my shield or I come out on it. That’s my rule. Period.”
Before the fifth round began, Smith said his teeth were falling out. Many have expressed their belief that Smith’s corner had a lack of awareness for not stopping the fight at that moment.
Smith’s head coach, Marc Montoya, later told Brett Okamoto that his fighter has veneers. He went on to say that when “Lionheart” said his teeth are falling out, he didn’t take it as his actual teeth being lost. Smith revealed to Helwani that he actually lost two of his real teeth.
Do you think the criticisms of Anthony Smith’s corner are warranted, or is it being overblown?
