Wednesday night in Jacksonville, perennial light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira scored an upset victory over Anthony Smith in their UFC Fight Night headliner. For the better part of 16 minutes, he battered and bashed Smith—after handily losing the first round. How did things go so wrong, so quickly, for the one-time title contender fighting out of Omaha, Nebraska?
The answer to that question may lie in a simple statement: I don’t think people really ‘get’ Glover Teixeira.
Smith and his team, helmed by coach Marc Montoya, went about attacking their Brazilian foe with complete negligence for just what dangers the longtime veteran represents.