Anthony Smith not happy about Jason Herzog addressing controversial stoppage against Glover Teixeira

It is widely agreed that the main event of UFC Jacksonville, Anthony Smith vs Glover Teixeira ended with a bad stoppage. The fight was absolutely one-sided and saw Teixeira dominate Smith for a major part of the five round fight. Smith did hold his ground but he was of no match to the 40-year-old Brazilian.

The beating resulted in Smith suffering a broken nose, fractured orbital bone, and missing teeth. The beatdown kind of sent the entire MMA community into strong reconsideration in terms of reforming the rules of the sport with Michael Bisping saying,

"I love Anthony Smith. He works with us. He’s a part of the team. May the best man win, and that’s how I truly felt. But watching it there tonight, I was like, ‘My word, stop this fight.’ Either the corner and referee need to do this. I love MMA, but we’ve got to catch up to boxing in regards to stopping the fight.”

Herzog's apology for the late stoppage irked Anthony Smith

The referee of the fight Jason Herzog addressed his decision and apologized publically on twitter, saying "But let me be clear, there is only one person to blame. Me." He claimed he had learned an important lesson in the fight and will get better. Here is Herzog's entire statement,

#UFCJAX pic.twitter.com/Y4DefYSdrm

— Jason Herzog (@JasonHerzogMMA) May 15, 2020

This reaction however, wasn't appreciated by Smith who took to Twitter to express his thoughts on the stoppage by referee Jason Herzog.

Coward move on his part, in my opinion.

— Anthony Smith (@lionheartasmith) May 17, 2020

Smith even added that Herzon should not have buckled under pressure and apologized just because he drew criticism on social media for the late stoppage.

I make it a point before fights to know the commands, and what he expects out of each one before every fight. I did everything he asked and responded correctly per the pre fight meeting. Don’t wilt under a little heat afterwards cause Twitter is mean. The world is soft. Man up...

— Anthony Smith (@lionheartasmith) May 17, 2020

Now this isn't the first time a fighter has justified late stoppage. Even Priscila Cachoeira justified her corner and referees action in her late stoppage fight against Valentina Shevchenko. Which is where the debate always comes to a halt, the fighter has justified the stoppage what can we do. But that doesn't mean the stoppage was acceptable. A reform is required.