Anthony Smith Claims Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka Both Had The “Worst Preformances Of Their Life”
On the June 13, 2022 edition of The MMA Hour, UFC Light Heavyweight Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith sat down with Ariel Helwani to discuss a number of topics including UFC 275 where he claims the main event competitors had the worst performances of their life.
During the conversation, Anthony Smith went on to say this about the former and current light heavyweight champion:
To be honest, I think both of those guys had the worst performances of their life at the same time, I really do. For the first time, Glover looked a little old. For the first time in a while, because that’s not the Glover I got. That’s not the one Thiago Santos got. I don’t know who that guy was, but fortunately for him, I think Prochazka had one of the worst performances he could have possibly had too.
– Anthony Smith on The MMA Hour
He then went on to explain more in depth on why he thought this:
They just made terrible decisions. Like the fight IQ, if you would have put it together, it wouldn’t have been in the double digits during the fight. They both just didn’t fight smart at all. Glover was mounted several times, He had [Prochazka’s] back several times, he had him deep in submissions a couple times. He lost position. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Glover lose positions like that before. I know the deficit between those two guys in the grappling department is huge. I’m a high level [Brazilian jiu-jitsu] black belt and I’ve submitted several world champions. I grapple at a very f****** high level and I was stuck like f****** Chuck [with Teixeira]. I don’t know what happened, where the Glover was that had me stuck on my back. Where was that guy? Because that’s not the same guy that fought on Saturday night.
– Anthony Smith on The MMA Hour
Anthony Smith, who lost to Glover Teixeira on his way to gaining a championship fight in 2020, speculated on why he thinks Glover didn’t have the best performance. Glover himself seemed to hint at having a tough weight cut, but Anthony thinks it could be a culmination of things.
I think it could be a culmination of a few things, It may be could be his age. He didn’t fight like an old man, though. If you really go back and watch it, it was one-way traffic when those guys got to their spots. We all said, ‘If Jiri’s striking and he’s doing what he wants to do, he’s finishing Glover.’ Then we said, ‘If Glover gets him on the ground, he’s probably going to finish him.’ Both guys got to both of their spots several times and it was like a runaway train, they were just beating the s*** out of each other, but for some reason, they just couldn’t cap it off and get that finish. Defensively, Glover has been very good in his last three or four fights. He has been clipped a little bit. I think maybe his reaction time has slipped just a tiny bit but he’s rolling with the punches, he’s not taking anything clean. And then he fights Prochazka and he couldn’t get out of the way. It was just the oddest thing.
– Anthony Smith on The MMA Hour
It wasn’t all bad though, as Smith went on to praise both fighters for their bravery and making the fight exciting.
Before anyone roasts me for talking s*** or talking bad — I’m not being critical, I think that they both fought with bravery. Those were brave performances from both of those guys and I couldn’t rave about it more, but I’m also an analyst and I can analyze their performances and they were awful. As far as the Xs and Os, their coaches are not happy, I’ll tell you that. From an excitement standpoint watching it, it couldn’t have been f****** better, but as far as the technical stuff that went on, it was all bad.
– Anthony Smith on The MMA Hour
