Anthony Smith walked away from his fifth-round TKO loss to Glover Teixeira far from unscathed.
Smith suffered a broken nose, a broken orbital bone, and lost two teeth in the UFC Fight Night headliner Wednesday, he told ESPN's Ariel Helwani.
"Lionheart" started strong in the pivotal light heavyweight bout, establishing his range and picking Teixeira apart with punches. But the 31-year-old appeared to tire out within the first 10 minutes, and the Brazilian rocked him in the third round. From there, it was a one-sided affair, as Teixeira eventually stopped Smith in the final frame.
Smith has now dropped two of his past three fights, including a title bout against Jon Jones in 2019. Prior to Wednesday's loss at Jacksonville's VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, he tapped out former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson.
Teixeira is now riding a four-fight winning streak. This was his first TKO victory since 2017.
