“He could have manned up instead of being a bitch and being an errand boy for the UFC.” — Luke Rockhold on Anthony Smith
Back in December, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold, was sizing up the light heavyweight division, anticipating an eventual trip north after years of grueling weight cuts.
In his assessment, the part-time model told the combat sports media that we was unimpressed with sloppy bums like Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos, two light heavyweight contenders with their eyes on the prize.
As you might expect, “Lionheart” took exception to that scathing scouting report and vowed to drill a hole right through Rockhold’s 185-pound dome, even if it means fighting the Strikeforce import in the Walmart parking lot.
Rockhold, however, doesn’t see what all the fuss is about.
“The truth hurts,” Rockhold said. “He’s not gonna be drilling nothing. He better focus on the fight coming up because my opinion is, he’s about to get his ass kicked. I don’t think he’s very tough, technical, talented. He ain’t got what it takes. The kid runs his mouth, he gets all bent out of shape like a rookie. Truth hurts, baby. Truth hurts! I’m gonna go do my thing and I’ll enjoy watching him get beat up in Stockholm.”
Smith went on to fight Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title in the UFC 235 pay-per-view (PPV) main event back in March, but came up empty after five rounds of action. His rebound fight will take place at UFC Stockholm in June, against former title contender Alexander Gustafsson.
As for Rockhold, he looks to get back into the win column against the venerable Jan Blachowicz at the UFC 239 extravaganza this July in Las Vegas. A victory may not get him an immediate title shot, but it will no doubt put him in the conversation.
One that may include Smith with a win over Alexander Gustafsson.