Anthony Smith says he would’ve fired his corner if they threw in the towel during Glover Teixeira fight

Anthony Smith says he has told his corner before if they ever throw in the towel in one of his fights they would be fired.

In the main event of UFC Jacksonville last Wednesday, many thought Smith’s corner let him down by not stopping the fight against Glover Teixeira. Yet, “Lionheart,” says they were just following his orders of never throwing in the towel.

“I feel bad because they’re in a tough spot. I don’t know if they wanted to stop it or if they thought about it. But, I take that option away from them,” Smith said to ESPN MMA. “Before any of this ever happened, before anything, I took that option away a long time ago. If you want to sit in my corner, that’s my rule. You don’t stop the fight. Leave it in my hands. Don’t take it out of my hands. So, I’ve told them before, if you stop the fight, if you throw the towel in, you can go ahead and walk back to the locker room by yourself because I’ll never stand by you again.

“I don’t need liabilities in my corner. The way that I fight, I end up in shitty spots sometimes. And that’s just how it goes. Most of the time, I’ve been able to come back and win. And sometimes, you can’t. Sometimes you just run out of time, and sometimes it’s just too high of a hill to climb,” Anthony Smith continued. “But, I don’t need those liabilities. I don’t need to be getting to bad spots, working my ass off to try to get to a better position, and constantly have in the back of my head worrying that my corners gonna step in and not give me the opportunity.

“Whether they did or didn’t it didn’t matter. That’s the rule. We don’t stop fights, that’s it. There are a lot of people that is on and that is the referee and the doctor. There’s a reason those people have a job. That’s their job. If he thought that it needed to be stopped, then that’s on him. If the doctor thinks that I can’t continue, then that’s on him,” Anthony Smith concluded. “That’s his job, that’s what he went to school for that’s what he’s being paid for. I’m paying them [my corner]  to help me win fights. I don’t need them constantly in the back of their head worrying about how much damage I’m taking. That’s not their job, they are paid to help me win fights, that’s it.”

Smith ended up breaking his nose and orbital in the fifth-round TKO loss to Teixeira. But, he will continue to stand by his coaches for not stopping the fight and letting him continue to try to pull off a comeback.

What do you make of Anthony Smith saying he would’ve fired his coaches if they threw in the towel in the Glover Teixeira fight?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/19/2020.