Teixeira upsets Smith to cap UFC's 2nd Jacksonville show

Glover Teixeira dominated Anthony Smith and finally stopped him with punches early in fifth round Wednesday night, earning an upset victory to cap UFC’s second show since returning to action amid coronavirus pandemic.

Heavyweight veteran Ben Rothwell grabbed an entertaining split-decision victory over Ovince Saint Preux, and Drew Dober stopped fellow lightweight contender Alexander Hernandez with a second-round barr of punches during second of three UFC cards over eight days at a fan-free VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

promotion returned to action last Saturday with UFC 249 after an eight-week hiatus. UFC established extensive protocols for health and safety in its return, and veteran fighter Jacare Souza was pulled off last weekend’s show after he tested positive for COVID-19 along with two cornermen.

second show went off without a positive COVID-19 test, and more masks were visible on UFC personnel inside and outside c Wednesday. Middleweight Karl Roberson’s bout with Marvin Vettori was scrapped when Roberson was hospitalized overnight after he fell ill, but illness was related to his weight cut and t coronavirus, according to UFC.

UFC’s third show in Jacksonville is Saturday night on ESPN Plus, helined by veteran heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris.

UFC hopes to begin holding fight cards back home in Las Vegas later this month, but is waiting for clearance from Neva Athletic Commission.

40-year-old Teixeira (31-7) was shockingly dominant in his fourth consecutive victory. He took control with strikes in second round, and almost finished Smith several times while dominating ensuing two rounds.

Teixeira finally ended it 1:04 into final round, earning his first stopp by punches since 2017.

“It’s t how hard you hit,” Teixeira said. “It’s how hard you get hit and keep coming forward. ... guy hits like a truck, but I moved my he a lot. I trained so hard.”

Smith (33-15) was in c for first time since he h to fight an intruder in his family home in Nebraska last month. He lost a close fight to Jon Jones for light heavyweight title last year, and Teixeira was superior after opening minutes.

Smith appeared to be battered beyond repair by end of third round, but his corner declined to stop fight after third or fourth rounds. His corner didn’t stop fight even when Smith told m: “My teeth are falling out.”

38-year-old Rothwell (38-12) punctuated his 50th professional bout with a back-and-forth meeting with Saint Preux (24-14), a former light heavyweight title contender who moved up to heavyweight after losing three of his past five fights. Rothwell improved to 2-2 since returning from a two-year doping suspension.

Dober (23-9) is a training teammate of Justin Gaethje, who won UFC interim lightweight title with an electrifying stopp of Tony Ferguson in UFC 249.

Dober lived up to Gaethje’s standard with an exciting performance capped by a series of dynamic strikes to force a stopp of Hernandez (11-3).

“Coming from a muay thai background, I h trouble fighting guys who constantly moved,” Dober said. “I wasn’t trying to hit hard. I was just trying to hit often. more times you touch a guy on his chin, more likely he’s going to fall over.”

Andrei Arlovski, UFC’s 41-year-old career leer in heavyweight victories, won a decision over Philipe Lins for his second victory in seven fights.

Earlier, Ricky Simon picked up biggest win of his UFC career with a split-decision victory over veteran Ray Borg. flyweights punctuated ir lively fight with plenty of good-natured trash talk, which was audible on television brocast from orwise quiet arena.