Anthony Smith aims to be first to submit Glover Teixeira after turbulent training camp

Anthony Smith has been training for a long time for his return to the octagon, and he wants that hard work to pay off in a historic way.

Smith will fight Glover Teixeira in the light heavyweight headliner of the UFC’s May 13 fight card. It was originally supposed to happen April 25 in Lincoln, Neb., but the event was among several postponed by the promotion due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The UFC announced Friday that it’s going to restart operations with UFC 249 on May 9, then roll out two additional events the following week. Smith (32-14 MMA, 8-4 UFC) meets Teixeira (30-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC) on the midweek showcase, which takes place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., and he wants to make a statement by submitting the Brazilian, who hasn’t tapped out in a 37-fight career that dates back to his June 2002 debut.

“I do think with my pressure and just being pinpoint accurate, I think I need a late finish,” Smith told MMA Junkie. “I think Glover’s going to be forced to take some bad shots to stay safe and I think it will be a submission. That one would mean a lot to me. Getting a submission win over someone as heralded as Glover Teixeira on the ground? He’s a really good black belt. But so am I. I think Glover’s going to be hard to knock out and I’m trying to be a little smarter with my hands these days. So we’re going heavier volume, we’re going to throttle the power back a little bit and be a little more tactical. I’m going to see if we can submit Glover Teixeira.”

Given his hard work training for the fight, Smith said he wants that big payoff of beating Teixeira in a way no other man has. It will have been more than 11 months since “Lionheart” competed by the time fight night arrives, because he was force to undergo multiple surgeries following his submission win over Alexander Gustafsson in June.

Smith’s original plans called for a comeback in February, but when the UFC revealed it would be putting on an event in Lincoln, which is close to home, Smith opted to wait until late April. Then the COVID-19 crisis arrived and threw the entire world into an unprecedented situation, pushing Smith’s chance to compete back even further. He also endured a well-document home invasion in the midst of training camp.

The most recent delay forced Smith to be take his foot slightly off the gas during training, but he said he’ll be ready for fight night. He said he feels confident in the precautions the UFC plans to take to protect him from the coronavirus, and he’s thankful Teixeira has held up his side of the bargain, as well.

“It’s still my main man Glover,” Smith said. “I’m telling you: I haven’t for a second wondered if Glover was going to make this fight. It’s been one part of it that’s been a big relief to me. He’s just a gamer. He shows up when he says he’s going to show up and that’s why Glover Teixeira has always had my respect. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to go in there and try to take his head off. I respect that dude. He hasn’t for a second wavered. He’s been in this fight with me through all the date changes and all the postponements. We’ve been in this thing ready to roll whenever they’re ready to put us out there. Props to him for that.”

Smith admits he’s definitely had smoother training camps, and given the current climate, that’s no surprise. He’s a longtime veteran of the game, though, and knows how to endure challenging moments leading up to a fight. This particular situation is unmatched, but Smith said it’s only built up more motivation to be unchained inside the octagon on May 9.

“I’m ready to fight,” Smith said. “I’m in good shape, I’m sharp. I’m not too afraid to be honest, I’m banged up. I got black eyes and (expletive), my nose is all busted up. I’ve been going hard. I’ve been pushing, pushing, pushing this whole time. Your typical nagging stuff. I’m over it. I’m excited to get back in there. I’ve just got to push on, push through it. His training isn’t as normal as it’s used to be, but goddammit we’re going to go in there and we’re going to put on a show.”