MMA corner stoppages are extremely rare compared to their boxing counterparts. As such, MMA fans have witnessed scores of fights that had grounds to be stopped end up lasting far longer than necessary, and Wednesday’s UFC Jacksonville main event was no exception.
Anthony Smith suffered a prolonged and wholly uncomfortable beating at the hands of Glover Teixeira, with unanimous 10-8s handed out to Teixeira by the official judges in rounds three and four. Smith finally was put out of his misery by referee Jason Herzog just over a minute into the fifth and final frame.
Herzog allowing the fight to continue for as long as it did has drawn plenty of rightful criticism, especially when you could easily argue that Smith was done after the third-round knockdown.