Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title contender, Anthony Smith, was the victim of a frightening home invasion earlier this month, but concerns were raised about “Lionheart’s” inability to subdue the smaller intruder after several minutes of fighting.
Even former opponent, Jon Jones, believed the situation would have played out differently had the roles been reversed. That assessment (see it) didn’t sit well with the easily-irritated Smith, who doesn’t understand why “Bones” was using a “disaster” to flex on social media.
“What a perfect moment to flex, Jon, in the middle of a disaster like that in my home,” Smith told SiriusXM Fight Nation (transcribed by Tom Taylor). “What a perfect opportunity to flex how goddamn cool you are. Just when you thought ‘that’s pretty admirable of Jon Jones to reach out well-wish me,’ then as you continue reading you’re like ‘oh that’s right, I forgot you’re still a fucking douchebag.’ It’s just his opportunity to insert himself and make sure everyone knows how cool and bad ass he is.”
I don’t want to speak for anyone else but when I wake up at 4am to use the bathroom I can barely remember to flush the toilet. The idea of fighting off a crazed maniac — and former standout high school wrestler in a life-or-death situation — is hard to imagine.
“First of all, I had a worst case scenario,” Smith continued. “We get it Jon, you’re all over Twitter and Instagram with all your guns and your cool dog, but I got caught. I got caught slipping, worst case scenario. Guns weren’t close: not typical. Door was open: not typical. I don’t get what he’s getting at. It’s really easy to sit there and go ‘if that guy came to my house I would have just beat the shit out of him, I would have done this, I would have shot him.’ It’s really easy to say that until you’re caught in it and you’ve been awake for eight seconds and you’re in the middle of a goddamn pandemonium throw down in the middle of your living room with no pants on. Nobody’s ready for that shit. It’s really easy to flex on Twitter.”
A street fight is not like a cage fight. There are no rules, no referees to stop the action, and no cageside physicians to assess the damage mid-contest. That means biting, nut shots, eye gouges, finger bending … everything is fair game against an opponent you haven’t prepared for with your frightened family hiding in the next room.
I know it’s not as bad as Marky Mark claiming he could have prevented 9/11 with his Good Vibrations, but maybe we can just leave it as “glad he’s okay.”