Glover Teixeira reflects on mid-fight apology to Anthony Smith after knocking his teeth out

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Glover Teixeira couldn’t help but issue an apology to Anthony Smith while in the middle of laying a beatdown on him.

After a slow start, Teixeira (31-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) rallied back to stop Smith late in Round 5 of their main event at UFC on ESPN+ 29. The fight could have easily been stopped before, as Smith was visibly hurt and rendered defenseless in the later rounds while Teixeira pummeled him.

In the middle of Round 4, Smith’s teeth – or veneers perhaps – fell out, and he handed them to referee Jason Herzog while Teixeira was on his back.

Ever a man of class, Teixeira couldn’t help but apologize for the pounding he was unleashing on Smith.

“I know his face was hurt because I was hitting him – my hand is hurting right now from hitting him,” Teixeira said to reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. “I know his face was hurt and like I said, he gave his tooth to the referee. He told the referee ‘here’s my tooth,’ and I apologized to him saying, ‘Hey man, I’m sorry, but it’s part of the job.’

“It is what it is, man.”

The empty arena allowed for their exchange and various mid-fight conversations to be heard, which is apparent in this courtesy of the UFC’s Twitter account: