5 times that Anthony Smith lived up to his 'Lionheart' nickname in the UFC

#4. Pushing through a horrific beatdown – Anthony Smith vs. Glover Teixeira

Anthony Smith absorbed a horrendous beating at the hands of Glover Teixeira in their fight

Anthony Smith is tough. Sometimes, as the old adage goes, a fighter can be considered too tough for their own good. This saying was largely the first thing that came to mind following Anthony Smith’s crazy clash with Glover Teixeira. The fight was the main event of a UFC Fight Night card in May 2020.

There was plenty at stake when the two light heavyweights clashed. The winner was expected to move into UFC title contention. Early on, it looked like that winner would be Smith.

‘Lionheart’ pushed an insane pace in the first round, hammering Teixeira with his strikes and putting the Brazilian veteran firmly on the retreat. In particular, his jab worked excellently. It marked Teixeira up and seemingly forcing him to rethink his entire gameplan.

However, while it seemed like only a matter of time before Smith found the killer blow, Teixeira proved to be more durable than ‘Lionheart’ had perhaps figured. And by the third round, Smith began to slow down, allowing Teixeira to take over, particularly on the ground.

The Brazilian began to put a horrendous beating on Smith with brutal punches and elbows from the top, but somehow ‘Lionheart’ survived.

Unfortunately, the beating only became worse in the fourth round, with Teixeira even apologizing for what he was doing. Naturally though, Smith simply responded by telling him "it is what it is." And when the round ended with Smith telling his corner that he’d lost multiple teeth, fans expected the fight to be stopped.

Incredibly, though, the action continued into the fifth, where Teixeira finally mustered up enough offense to force the referee to call a halt to proceedings.

Anthony Smith had lost in genuinely brutal fashion. But by absorbing some of the most violent punishment in UFC history, he gained far more fans than he lost and lived up to his ‘Lionheart’ nickname.

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#3. Defeating the hometown hero – Anthony Smith vs. Alexander Gustafsson

Anthony Smith pulled off a huge upset when he beat Alexander Gustafsson in the Swede's hometown

After coming up short in his unexpected UFC title challenge against Jon Jones, few fans anticipated Anthony Smith to stick around at the top of the light heavyweight division.

And when he was signed to fight former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson in the Swede’s home town of Stockholm, everyone figured that ‘The Mauler’ would be in for an impressive homecoming victory. However, ‘Lionheart’ had other ideas. That was despite an entire country basically being against him for the night.

Anthony Smith came out looking to surprise Gustafsson by pushing a torrid pace. He managed to win the first two rounds with his crisp striking, keeping the Swede on the back foot. But in the third round, Gustafsson turned the tide by hurting ‘Lionheart’ with a heavy jab and a body kick, to the point that Smith narrowly survived.

It looked like he would probably fall prey to Gustafsson in the fourth round. But incredibly, Smith surprised everyone by securing a takedown on ‘The Mauler’ before taking his back. And before Gustafsson could really respond, ‘Lionheart’ smashed him with some elbows to the head. He then slapped on a rear-naked choke, forcing Gustafsson to tap out.

The win was arguably the biggest of Anthony Smith’s career. The fact that he did it in Gustafsson’s home town after weathering a storm made it even better. The gutsy performance once again proved that he’d earned his nickname.