Anthony Smith calls referee Jason Herzog’s apology a “cowardly move”

UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith isn’t happy with referee Jason Herzog’s apology following his loss to Glover Teixeira.

Smith, who was considered to be the favorite heading into his main event fight against Teixeira, was overwhelmed by the veteran in what turned out to be a fairly one-sided beating for the Brazilian.

After referee Jason Herzog was criticized for not stopping the fight earlier, he issued a short apology on social media.

Smith was later asked about Herzog’s apology, and he didn’t mince words. 

Coward move on his part, in my opinion.

— Anthony Smith (@lionheartasmith) May 17, 2020

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

As you can probably tell, Smith wasn’t all too interested in hearing Herzog’s apology – going on to claim that he did everything he could to respond to the commands given to signal he was still in the fight.

It was clearly a bitter pill to swallow for “Lionheart” as a decisive victory over Teixeira would’ve put him right back into the hunt for another title shot. Instead, he’ll have to work his way back up through the ranks once more with Teixeira, Dominick Reyes, Jan Blachowicz and Thiago Santos all seemingly ahead of him in the queue.

Going after the referee may come as a surprising move to many of Smith’s fans who believe that he’s always come across as one of the nicest guys on the UFC roster. While that may be the case, nobody can deny just how devastating this loss was for him and the progression of his career.

Smith is a tough customer and he’ll want to get back in there as quickly as possible, but on the other side of the fence, Glover Teixeira is enjoying the sort of career revival that very few pundits saw coming.

The UFC matchmakers have some interesting dilemmas to solve at light heavyweight with there being more contenders now than there has been in many, many years. Jon Jones was clearly contemplating a move up to heavyweight, but now, that could change.