Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight slugger, Anthony Smith, is a big fan of UFC Fight Night 134 opponent, Mauricio Rua, as “Lionheart” — like most guys coming up through the 205-pound ranks — grew up watching “Shogun” run the table in PRIDE Fighting Championship.
But he’s going to put that aside when the cage door closes this Sunday (July 22, 2018) in Hamburg, Germany, on FOX Sports 1.
That’s because Smith understands what can happen when you take your eye off the proverbial ball, and doesn’t want to throw away his biggest win to date because he’s starstruck by his MMA idol.
“Look at what happened when Pat Barry fought Mirko Cro Cop,” Smith told MMA Fighting. “I can tell you 100 percent that I respect Shogun the way Pat did Cro Cop, but I can also tell you 100 percent I know how to shut that down. After the fight, yeah, it will be great to say I had the honor of competing against Shogun, but until then, Shogun is the guy who is in the way of what I want.”
And what he wants is a title shot.
Barry, a former kickboxer, was a huge fan of heavyweight striker Mirko Filipovic, but failed to capitalize on his opportunity to win their UFC 115 showdown and instead wound up getting submitted my the legendary “Cro Cop.”
Smith, who recently stopped former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, won’t be making the same mistake as “HD,” though if the Brazilian has anything to say about it, the results will be the same, bromance or not.