Neither Anthony Smith nor Glover Teixeira would label it as such, but their light heavyweight bout in Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night main event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, is the proverbial crossroads fight.
Each has fought and lost for the title and each has been on a recent roll. Smith is 4-1 in his last five, with the only loss a decision to champion Jon Jones at UFC 235 last year. Teixeira has won his last three fights.
There is a crowd at the top of the light heavyweight division beneath Jones, with Smith joining Dominick Reyes, Thiago Santos and Jan Blachowicz all in the running for a title shot.