UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith recently revealed that he would prefer to fight reigning champion Glover Teixeira over Jiri Prochazka.
During a recent episode of Michael Bisping's Believe You Me podcast, 'Lionheart' stated that he wants a rematch with Teixeira to win over the division's title belt.
Putting forth his argument for choosing Glover Teixeira over Jiri Prochazka, the No.5-ranked light heavyweight had this to say:
"Prochazka is just a pain in the a**, you know, I think. It's just a pain in that like he's another one of those guys he just makes everybody look bad. Like you would look bad beating him, you know. He's just a tough guy to fight a big... It's one of those guys like f**k this is gonna suck... I know what I'm getting myself into with Glover so there's no real surprises. Jiri is very unpredictable. "
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Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira squared off against each other at UFC Fight Night 171 in 2020. The bout ended with the UFC light heavyweight veteran earning a brutal TKO win over 'Lionheart'.
Smith underestimated his opponent and thought he could finish Glover Teixeira early on. The American fought at a tremendous pace in the initial rounds of the match hoping to pull a win. However, much to his dismay, the fighter was only able to last for around seven minutes before going completely out of gas.
Things started to go sideways from the third round onwards, when the Brazilian unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks, inflicting significant damage on Smith.
By the end of the fourth round, Smith was barely able to make it to his corner. But he chose to continue to the fifth round, only to last barely a minute before the referee finally stopped the fight and declared Teixeira the winner.
Glover Teixeira all set for his first title defense against Jiri Prochazka
Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka are all set to face-off against each other as headliners at the upcoming UFC 275 pay-per-view event in June, which was initially scheduled for the month of May.
Teixeira happens to hold the record of being one of the oldest fighters in UFC history. He also became the second-oldest champion in the promotion after defeating former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267.
The 42-year-old will be defending his light heavyweight title for the first time against Prochzaka, who happens to be one of the top-rated contenders in the division. The Czech fighter currently boasts an impressive 12-fight win streak in the game.
It will be interesting to see if the Brazilian veteran can use his experience to successfully keep the title to himself, increasing his winning record to 34 wins and preventing 'Denisa' from dethroning him.
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