Anthony Smith got his biggest win today, but he won’t be getting the fight he wants.
Following his first-round demolition of former champ Shogun Rua (highlights here) in the main event of today’s (Sun., July 22, 2018) UFC Fight Night 134 from the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany, ‘Lionheart’ called out former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson for August 4’s UFC 227 after “The Mauler’s” original opponent Volkan Oezdemir pulled out last week.
However, news soon arrived that Gustafsson had been forced off of the August 4 event from Los Angeles due to an undisclosed injury, sparking speculation that the Swedish veteran simply didn’t want to face the lesser-known but increasingly more dangerous fighter in Smith.
At the UFC Hamburg post-fight presser, Smith reacted to the news by saying it was “mighty ironic” that Gustafsson was now off the card after he knocked out Rua:
“That’s ironic, isn’t it?” Smith told reporters. “That’s kind of weird how that works out. He needed an opponent yesterday. What happened between then and now? I don’t know. That’s mighty ironic. I think that I’m a hard guy to train for; I really do. I show up with a different product every time I fight.”
So with the Gustafsson fight on the cutting room floor now – and uncertain to ever materialize – Smith shifted focus to what his next fight may be. He noticed knockout artist Jimi Manuwa in the crowd at UFC Hamburg, so he tabbed the British “Poster Boy” as a potential foe in his pending rise:
“I’ve seen Jimi Manuwa out there – Jimi’s a great fighter,” Smith said. “He’s a hell of a striker, he’s powerful, and he’s ranked. He’s ranked pretty high in the division. I’m not 100 percent sure. I’ll let the UFC and my management figure that out. If it’s not Gustafsson, then I don’t know.”
Finally, with champion Daniel Cormier now injured and returning at heavyweight to fight Brock Lesnar in his next bout, the UFC light heavyweight title picture is an unclear one at best and an unmitigated mess at worse.
No one is sure if and when he’ll return to 205 pounds for one of final two fights, but Smith said he owed it to the rest of the division to clear that up soon:
“I think that’s the first step: We need to figure out if Cormier’s staying or going,” Smith said. “(UFC President) Dana (White) even said this before, ‘I think Daniel is an honorable man.’ It wouldn’t be very honorable to hold up the division. Because he knows right now. You guys can ask him 100 times, and he won’t tell you, but he knows if he’s coming back down or not. I think he needs to make that public so we can figure out what we’re all doing.”
“Lionheart” may have a good point, as Cormier most likely only has one fight left if he ever decides to undergo one final draining weight cut to 205 pounds.
No one would blame him if he didn’t, yet he does owe it to fighters like Smith and Gustafsson to let them know what they’re actually fighting for, and when they can win it. With Smith knocking out former champs left and right, you can see why.
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