UFC light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev moves one step closer to a potential title shot with his TKO win over Anthony Smith at UFC 277. Ankalaev stayed patient in the opening minutes of the fight against Smith, landing some heavy leg kicks that limped S…
UFC light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev moves one step closer to a potential title shot with his TKO win over Anthony Smith at UFC 277. Ankalaev stayed patient in the opening minutes of the fight against Smith, landing some heavy leg kicks that limped Smith after the first round. The two light heavyweight contenders threw punches…
Anthony Smith seemed to suffer a leg injury in his bout with Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 277. The fourth-ranked contender at light heavyweight Ankalaev returned to action against the top five ranked division contender Smith on the main card at UFC 277 on July 30 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Both men took […]
Anthony Smith seemed to suffer a leg injury in his bout with Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 277.
The fourth-ranked contender at light heavyweight Ankalaev returned to action against the top five ranked division contender Smith on the main card at UFC 277 on July 30 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Both men took a cautious approach to the bout, staying composed and measured trying to exchange strikes in the stand-up. Smith complained about his ankle after the first round.
Ankalaev landed a flurry of punches to finish Smith in the second round. Smith did not immediately get up after the referee called off the fight and claimed that he broke his leg during the outing.
Below, catch the highlights from Anthony Smith vs. Magomed Ankalaev
UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith thinks the credit that Magomed Ankalaev has received far outweighs what he deserves. Smith and Ankalaev will open up the main card at UFC 277 tonight in Dallas, TX. The winner could potentially leapfrog Jan…
UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith thinks the credit that Magomed Ankalaev has received far outweighs what he deserves. Smith and Ankalaev will open up the main card at UFC 277 tonight in Dallas, TX. The winner could potentially leapfrog Jan Blachowicz for a title shot with an impressive performance. Smith is one of the…
Magomed Ankalaev currently holds one of the longest win streaks in the UFC, but he doesn’t want to think about a light heavyweight title shot just yet. The 30-year-old is set to meet Anthony Smith at UFC 277 in Dallas, Texas. The two top light heavywei…
Magomed Ankalaev currently holds one of the longest win streaks in the UFC, but he doesn’t want to think about a light heavyweight title shot just yet. The 30-year-old is set to meet Anthony Smith at UFC 277 in Dallas, Texas. The two top light heavyweights will kick off the event’s main card, which is…
Anthony Smith may have the heart of a lion, but he did break in one fight back in his early fighting days. Anthony “Lionheart” Smith is one of the best light heavyweight fighters in the world. In his career so far he has stood toe to toe wi…
Anthony Smith may have the heart of a lion, but he did break in one fight back in his early fighting days. Anthony “Lionheart” Smith is one of the best light heavyweight fighters in the world. In his career so far he has stood toe to toe with the likes of Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafsson,…
Anthony Smith believes that the UFC is holding off on booking a Light Heavyweight title fight, because they want to see how his fight pans out first. ‘Lionheart‘ will be taking on Magomed Ankalaev this Saturday at UFC 277. Smith is currently the fifth ranked fighter in the division, while Ankalaev is the fourth ranked […]
Anthony Smith believes that the UFC is holding off on booking a Light Heavyweight title fight, because they want to see how his fight pans out first.
‘Lionheart‘ will be taking on Magomed Ankalaev this Saturday at UFC 277. Smith is currently the fifth ranked fighter in the division, while Ankalaev is the fourth ranked fighter and currently on an eight fight win streak.
Light Heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka, has recently accepted Glover Teixeira’s offer to run their title fight back, claiming that it wasn’t a good enough performance and he still had more to prove after their first fight. Smith doesn’t quite buy into that just yet.
Anthony Smith believes that this fight with Ankalaev will determine who the number one contender in the Light Heavyweight division is.
“[UFC President] Dana [White’s] already said that this is the No. 1 contender fight, so the winner gets a title shot, and I think the fact that they haven’t re-booked Glover and Jiri – or Jan Blachowicz vs. Jiri, I think that’s them waiting what happens with Ankalaev and I,” Smith said. “If we have a stinker and it sucks, I think they’ll slide one of those guys in. But if I think we go out and do what Ankalaev and I can do, I think the winner of this fight gets a title shot no matter what.” (Transcribed by MMAFighting)
Smith claims that this fight will be a very competitive, fun fight to watch and not a “snoozer”. Smith challenged for the title back at UFC 235 in 2019. He lost that fight to Jon Jones in a one sided, five round beatdown. Since that loss, Smith has been on a tear, winning four of his last six fights. His only other defeats came by the hands of Glover Teixeira and Aleksander Rakic. Teixeira went on to become the oldest first time champion in UFC history, and Rakic looks like he may be a champion, or at the very least a top contender for the rest of his career.
A win for either Smith or Ankalaev may just get them a fight with Prochazka, but most likely will get them a fight with Jan Blachowicz in the near future. Only time will tell if Dana was true to his words, or if he will book Teixeira vs Prochazka once again.