smith

Las Vegas - Still counting the money from my BEST BET this weekend when Francis (The Predator) Ngannou stopped Jairzinho (Bigi) Rozenstruik in the 1st round. Under 1.5 rounds was the BEST BET, and boy, did that feel good. Not so much for Bigi, but my wallet was ECSTATIC!

More UFC action coming on Wednesday from Jacksonville, and at the top of the card, it's Anthony (Lionheart) Smith vs. Glover (does not have a nickname) Teixeira. Smith is a solid favorite at -$165 (bet $165 to win back $100), with Teixeira the underdog at +$145 (bet $100 to win back $145).

You know what's next, yup, the Tale of the Tape. Lionheart is 31 years old from Corpus Christi, Texas. He tips the scale at 205, is 6'4" and has a 76.0" reach. His MMA record is healthy at 32-14, with 17 wins coming by KO, 12 by submission and 2 by decision. Anthony has won 15 of his last 18 fights, but thought you might like to hear about what he said was one of the toughest fights of his life.

At 4:00 AM on April 5, 2020, an intruder gained entry to Smith's home in Nebraska through an open garage door. The Lion found him “screaming at the top of his lungs” in his computer room, and proceeded to fight the man for FIVE minutes until the police arrived. Smith said that the intruder "took everything that I gave him – every punch, every knee, every elbow. He took every single one of them and STILL kept fighting me," describing the ordeal "as one of the toughest fights of my life."

My toughest fight was against my shadow, which took EVERY punch, EVERY knee, EVERY elbow, even a REAR NAKED CHOKEHOLD, and STILL kept fighting. Will NEVER listen to "Me and My Shadow" again. NEVER!!!

Teixeira is 40 years old from Sobrália, Minas Gerais, Brazil, also tips the scale at 205, is 6'2" and has a 76.0" reach. His MMA record is 30-7, with 17 wins coming by KO, 8 by submission and 5 by decision. Mr. No Nickname, I might start to call him Tex, is just 5-3 his last eight, and coming up on his 41st birthday, the tread on his tires are starting to get a little thin.

However, here's a little bit about Glover that might warm your heart. In October of 2014, Teixeira was a part of the Pink Bra tour to raise money for early detection and prevention of breast cancer and breast cancer research in Danbury, Connecticut. BRAVO Glover!!!

Will throw down our selections in Wednesday's column.

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