Fellow UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith thought the 205-pound title fight at UFC 275 was a little underwhelming. Despite Prochazka vs Teixeira going down as a potential fight of the year, Smith told The MMA Hour that he saw “the worst performances of their lives” from Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka.
“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.
Smith: Teixeira and Prochazka Put On “Worst Performances of Their Lives”
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.”
Smith’s criticism centered around Glover Teixeira’s inability to impose his will on Prochazka via his world-beating grappling, which Smith has personally experienced.
“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.”
Smith insisted that he was merely making technical criticisms, rather than blasting either fighter for their performance.
“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.”
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