The most polite exchange in UFC history…. ‘Sorry Anthony, it’s part of the job’: Glover Teixeira apologises to light-heavyweight opponent while pummelling him DURING main event
- Usually UFC opponents trash talk each other but Glover Teixeira was polite
- He took the bizarre decision to apologise to Anthony Smith on Wednesday night
- Brazilian had Smith’s back and said he was sorry and it is just part of the job
- Teixeira went on to win the fight with a stoppage in the fifth round in Florida
UFC fighters are usually filled with animosity and aggression in the octagon but things took a bizarre, polite turn on Wednesday night.
With Glover Teixeira on Anthony Smith’s back and dominating him during the main event in Florida, the Brazilian apologised for inflicting damage.
He paused the beating for a moment and said: ‘Sorry Anthony, it’s part of the job.’
Glover Teixeira apologised to Anthony Smith (right) as he was on top of him during their fight
The American accepted his opponent’s polite words and they continued to scrap
Smith either misheard or couldn’t believe what what going on, replying: ‘You what?’
He then realised that his light-heavyweight rival was apologising and accepted it, saying: ‘Yeah, it is what it is.’
It was a strange but touching moment of sportsmanship during the heat of battle between the two men.
Teixeira went on to finish the job, securing mount in the fifth round and forcing the referees intervention after landing repeated shots from on high.
Teixeira eventually claimed the stoppage victory with Smith unable to adequately defend
Smith lost his veneers, two actual teeth, fractured his eye socket and broke his nose in the fight.
UFC fighters occasionally touch gloves and high five between rounds but rarely if ever do they apologise for inflicting pain.
Khabib Nurmagomedov famously yelled towards Dana White to give him a title shot while beating up Michael Johnson on the mat and yelled: ‘Talk now, chicken’, to Conor McGregor while on top of him in the 2018 victory.
The UFC returned to action as the first major sport back during the coronavirus crisis on Saturday with UFC 249 and Wednesday’s Fight Night in Jacksonville is the second of three in the space of a week.
Teixeira vs Smith was the headline act and it delivered in terms of a spectacle and example of superb sportsmanship.
Smith suffered a broken nose, fractured eye socket and lost teeth during the fight