UFC's Anthony Smith handed ref knocked-out tooth and refused to stop brutal bout that left him hospitalized
UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith picked up his tooth off the mat and handed it to the referee right in the midst of a brutal bout.
Glover Teixeira won a fifth-round TKO (Technical Knockout) against Smith on May 13, with the latter sustaining a brutal laundry list of injuries which meant he was rushed straight to the hospital after UFC Fight Night in Jacksonville, the New York Post reported.
Smith walked away with a broken nose, broken orbital bone, two missing teeth and a cut under his right eye — and now his corner is facing criticism for not stopping the bout sooner. “I’m good with the decisions the referee and my corner made,” Smith told ESPN, however. “When the ref made it clear he needed to see something or he was gonna stop it, I did what I had to do to stay in the fight. I come out of battle with my shield or I come out on it. That’s my rule. Period.”
During one break in the match, Smith could reportedly be heard telling his corner how his "teeth are falling out." But it seems there was some confusion about what he was trying to say. Marc Montoya, Smith's coach, told ESPN that Smith has had his 'veneers' fall out during practice before, and therefore it may have not come as a surprise. But Smith actually meant his real teeth were falling out. “I couldn’t keep my mouthpiece in place due to the missing tooth,” Smith said. “I looked down and it was on the canvas. So I grabbed it and handed it to [the referee].”
Last month, the UFC fighter grabbed headlines after successfully fighting off a home intruder and saying it was “one of the toughest fights I’ve had in my whole life.”
The intruder, who has been identified as a certain Luke Haberman, was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree criminal trespass, according to ESPN. Speaking to the network, Smith recalled how he woke up to a man yelling “at the top to his lungs" inside his Nebraska home. He dialed 911 but had to fight the intruder for several minutes before officers arrived at the scene. Fortunately, nothing was stolen and none of Smith's family members — his wife, mother-in-law, and three daughters — were hurt.
“I didn’t know what he had,” Smith said. “Typically, people don’t break into your house in the middle of the night for any good reasons. I’m expecting that I’m gonna hear a gunshot or he’s gonna stab me. Like he’s got something. I figure I’ve got about two minutes before whatever he’s got takes me out.”
Smith said Haberman was in his computer room when he spotted him. They immediately began fighting and, despite Smith having several pounds on Haberman, the former said it was a struggle.
“No normal human is able to fight like that,” Smith said. “I’m by no means the baddest dude on the planet. But he’s a regular Joe and I had a hard time dealing with him. And he took everything that I gave him — every punch, every knee, every elbow. He took every single one of them and kept fighting me.”
During the altercation, Smith's mother-in-law reportedly brought him a kitchen knife. However, Haberman was subdued only after the police arrived.
“Hey, man, I’m sorry," Haberman surprisingly told Smith as he left the home. The intruder was subsequently given a citation and sent to the hospital to treat minor injuries.