UFC light heavyweight contender and one-time title challenger, Anthony Smith has called for the promotion and the sport as a whole, to abandon the current 265lbs cap on the heavyweight limit a fighter can weigh-in, claiming the sport is likely missing out on athletes whom resemble “NFL linemen”.
Smith, a one-time title challenger at the light heavyweight limit, challenged former two-weight champion, Jon Jones for undisputed gold back in March 2019, suffering a unanimous decision loss to the Rochester native.
Last time out, Nebraska native, Smith met with one-time title chaser, Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 277 back in July, suffering an ankle injury en route to a second round ground strikes TKO loss.
Seeing a headliner against recently minted undisputed champion, Jamahal Hill fall to the wayside recently, Smith has since been booked in a main event clash against Brazilian finisher, Johnny Walker – who has notched consecutive triumphs over Ion Cutelaba, and back at UFC 283, Paul Craig.
Anthony Smith calls for the heavyweight cap to be abolished
Sharing his thoughts on the heavyweight weight cap which sees fighters over 265lbs ineligible to compete, Smith believes the cap should be removed entirely – allowing for larger athletes to compete in the sport.
“I’d like to see a couple new weight divisions,” Anthony Smith said on the Believe You Me podcast with former UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping. “I wouldn’t be so stuck on 160/165 (super lightweight), but if you were to do like a 165, 175, 185, 195 – I’d like to see a couple new weight divisions. But if I had to just pick one, I’d love to see no weight cap at heavyweight.”
“I think there’s a lot of them (super heavyweight fighters),” Anthony Smith explained. “I think that we miss out on a lot of athletic, huge, really, really good guys by capping it at 265. Think about this, NFL lineman, there’s a lot of them guys that are 6’8’, 6’9’, 300lbs. And move well and are super athletic and fast and those guys just can’t make 265lbs. I think we cut out a pretty big chunk of guys that would be really crazy, large heavyweights.” (Transcribed by MMA News)
With his July loss to Ankalaev, Smith saw a three-fight winning streak against Ryan Spann, Jimmy Crute, and Devin Clark come to an end.