Drew Dober has arrived in the lightweight division. That much is clear after UFC Jacksonville. Glover Teixeira, meanwhile, never really left the 205lb weight class. We just forgot how good he can be.
Those are two takeaways from a pretty entertaining UFC Jacksonville card. A strong start, a bit of a slowdown in the middle, and then a very strong finish — with Glover Teixeira capping off the night with a one-sided, painful to watch beatdown of Anthony Smith. It didn’t help that Smith is one of the most likeable guys in the division, making the battering he took that much harder to watch. But showing tons of heart, he refused to go away easy, making it to the fifth frame.
Teixeira arguably had 10-8 rounds in both the third and fourth rounds. Each time Smith seemed ready to go out, the Brazilian opted to try for a submission. That may have been a response to Smith’s suggestion that he might catch Teixeira in a choke of his own. The result, either way, is that Smith just barely made it out of rounds three and four. In the fifth, Teixeira got to mount, and did away with any thought of submitting “Lionheart” — instead putting him away with ground n’ pound.
That earned Teixeira one $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. The other went to Drew Dober, for a masterful performance against Alexander Hernandez. Dober has been a bit under the radar in his UFC career to date. He trains with Justin Gaethje at Team Elevation, however, meaning he can certainly fight. His second-round TKO of Hernandez made it three wins in a row, and Dober is now 6-1 in his last seven bouts. A ranked opponent is no doubt in his future.
Fight of the Night at UFC Jacksonville went to Brian Kelleher and Hunter Azure, for a spirited prelim scrap held at featherweight. Kelleher earned the finish with a second-round KO of the previously undefeated Contender Series veteran.
