UFC boss Dana White said it was 'tough to watch' a fighter get beaten so bad he was left with broken bones and missing teeth

• Anthony Smith had teeth struck out of his mouth and was taken to hospital to treat a broken orbital bone and broken nose.
• The 31-year-old American was resoundingly beaten by Glover Teixeira at a UFC Fight Night event in Jacksonville, Florida, on Wednesday.
• Though the bout was waved off in the fifth round, it could have ended sooner.
• The UFC boss Dana White said it was "tough to watch" when the show was over.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The UFC president Dana White said it was "tough to watch" a fighter get beat so badly on Wednesday that he was left with broken bones and missing teeth.

Anthony Smith was taken to hospital after his fifth round stoppage defeat to Glover Teixeira after 138 of the Brazilian's strikes helped inflict a broken orbital bone and a broken nose, injuries which were confirmed by ESPN.

Following the "UFC Fight Night" event in the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, White appeared to agree with various MMA fighters on Twitter who were apoplectic that the bout was allowed to go on, and that Smith's corner did not withdraw the American from the contest for his own safety.

"I didn't think his corner was going to let him come out, but that's between them and their corner. And the ref could've stopped that in the fourth, too," White said, according to MMA Junkie. "Us sitting on the outside it was a little tough to watch."

The show was behind-closed-doors because of restrictions on mass gatherings while the United States attempts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The midweek Jacksonville card was the second of three events the UFC is holding in an eight-day spell having restarted a combat sports calendar after a two-month COVID-19 enforced hiatus.

The UFC has its final Jacksonville card Saturday, before it returns to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on May 30.

Read more:

A veteran fighter gave his younger UFC opponent such a beating on Wednesday that his 'head literally no longer looked human'

A 40-year-old fighter could be heard saying sorry to his American opponent in the middle of a UFC fight for beating him so bad

An American called "Boom" scored a 1-punch KO then hit his defenseless, unconscious opponent with 2 hammer-fists on the canvas

MMA fighters are apoplectic at Anthony Smith's corner for failing to stop a UFC fight when the American was given a horrific thrashing

Beaten American fighter Anthony Smith seen on video handing his tooth to the referee after it had been struck from his mouth

Read the original article on Insider