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Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 57 card marked the promotion’s long-awaited return to Louisville, and by the time it was over, the stage was set for some big fights in…
Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 57 card marked the promotion’s long-awaited return to Louisville, and by the time it was over, the stage was set for some big fights in…
Anthony Smith doesn’t fully understand the beef between himself and champion Alex Periera. Despite being a long way away…
Anthony Smith doesn’t fully understand the beef between himself and champion Alex Periera.
Despite being a long way away from a potential title opportunity, Pereira has taken repeated digs at Smith in recent years, the most recent coming at UFC 301 when ‘Poatan’ hilariously pretended to fall asleep just as ‘Lionheart’ was seconds away from fighting Vitor Petrino.
Alex Pereira fell asleep during Anthony Smith’s introduction
IG / @AlexPereiraUFC #UFC301 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/VqjN0PdblI
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 5, 2024
As an analyst for the UFC, Smith was quick to point out that Pereira’s success inside the Octagon is especially impressive considering his lack of a ground game. That kicked off a back-and-forth between the two 205’ers culminating in Pereira laying down a $50,000 grappling challenge, which Smith gladly accepted.
Since then, Smith has been inundated with comments from hardcore ‘Poatan’ fans suggesting that Smith is doing everything he can to avoid throwing hands with the former GLORY Kickboxing champion.
“Here’s another thing I catch a lot of sh*t about,” Smith said on The MMA Hour. “Everywhere, ‘Oh, of course, Anthony wants to grapple Alex Pereira. Of course, he only wants to do one part of mixed martial arts.’ Because it wasn’t my f*cking idea. It wasn’t my f*cking idea. Every single time grappling has been brought up with Alex Pereira, he f*cking brought it up. I’ve never challenged him to anything, not even a fight, because I haven’t been in a position where I can confidently call him out. The answer to whatever the f*ck he wants to do is yes.
“If he wants to fight, box, kickbox, wrestle, f*cking thumb wrestle, checkers, chess, Halo on Xbox, I don’t give a f*ck. Whatever he wants to do, the answer is yes. But I’m not the one who keeps challenging him. If he wants to grapple, yes, I will absolutely do that. I would choose that over everything that I just said, that would be the most fun for me, for sure. But I’m not the one who keeps bringing it up” (h/t MMA Fighting).
As for Pereira’s antics at UFC 301, Anthony Smith didn’t see it happen live, but later watched it back on video and couldn’t help but be amused by the two-division titleholder’s brand of humor.
“It’s weird,” Smith said. “I don’t come at him. I’ve never come for him like that. Of course, you have the title belt in my division, so when people say, ‘What’s your goal?’ I want to fight the champion. I want to fight Alex Pereira. But he goes out of his way to pick at me, which is fine. It doesn’t bother me, I think it’s awesome actually, it’s kind of a lot of fun because he has a sense of humor.
“Like I’ve always said, he’s not this guy that’s just a serial killer mindset. He’s got a sense of humor, he’s funny, he has a really good pulse on social media and he does a good job of molding and weaving in and out of media stuff. He’s very, very intelligent, so I enjoy that part of it. It’s just weird to me.”
After losing back-to-back bouts against Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker, ‘Lionheart’ has now won two of his last three, including his first-round guillotine submission victory over the previously undefeated Vitor Petrino in Rio.
Smith currently sits at No. 10 in the light heavyweight rankings.
UFC 301 caught a lot of flack for the shortage of ranked fighters and big names on the bill, but in the end, the Saturday-night card in Rio de Janeiro…
UFC 301 caught a lot of flack for the shortage of ranked fighters and big names on the bill, but in the end, the Saturday-night card in Rio de Janeiro…
Following last night’s impressive first round submission win over the unbeaten, Vitor Petrino, former light heavyweight champion, Anthony Smith…
Following last night’s impressive first round submission win over the unbeaten, Vitor Petrino, former light heavyweight champion, Anthony Smith has vowed to grant incumbent champion, Alex Pereira a grappling match – vowing to choke out the Brazilian striker if they share the mats.
Smith, a former undisputed light heavyweight title challenger under the promotion’s banner, managed to retain his status as the number 10 rank in the division overnight – handing the above-mentioned, Petrino his first professional loss in a stunning first round win.
Struggling with the surging prospect’s striking on the feet, Smith somehow managed to force a grappling exchange during an ill-fated takedown attempt from Petrino, and despite finding himself slammed to his back, wrapped up a quickfire first round guillotine choke win.
And revealing earlier this week how his pursuit of an Octagon title had encompassed his life, Smith vowed to honor Pereira’s bet of a $50,000 wager in a potential future grappling matchup.
“What did he (Alex Pereira) say? Alex Pereira said he would put up $50,000, and I start off his back.” Anthony Smith told assembled media after his UFC 301 win. “So, I start off on his back, hooks in, and I’ve got 5 minutes to finish him, and he wants to put $50,000 on it. I’ll take his $50,00. I’ll take his money – if I start off on his back, I’ll choke the sh*t out of him.”
As for Pereira, the former duel-weight champion headlined UFC 300 last month, turning in his first successful defense of the light heavyweight title, courtesy of a first round knockout win over former champion, Jamahal Hill.
And weighing up a title fight rematch with another ex-titleholder, Jiri Prochazka in the immediate future, Pereira was also himself floated as a potential suitor to the heavyweight throne, by current division kingpin, Jon Jones.
Would you like to see Anthony Smith and Alex Pereira share the mats?
Back in the winner’s enclosure in a big way tonight on the main card of UFC 301, former light…
Back in the winner’s enclosure in a big way tonight on the main card of UFC 301, former light heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith has handed Vitor Petrino his first professional loss on enemy territory, submitting the Brazilian with a hasty guillotine.
Smith, a former light heavyweight title challenger, had been sidelined since he suffered a one-sided knockout loss to incoming UFC 303 co-headliner, Khalil Rountree back in December of last year.
And weighing up a future title charge with emerging rival, Alex Pereira — the incumbent champion at the light heavyweight limit, Smith kickstarted one potential final run at the weight class tonight against the highly-touted, Petrino.
Admittedly struggling with the power of Petrino early in the first round, Nebraska managed to lock up a surprisingly taut guillotine choke on the Brazilian — who inadvertently slammed himself deeper into the choke, before tapping to the veteran former title challenger.
Claiming earlier this week how he had been obsessed with his goal of landing light heavyweight spoils, Smith explained how he may have one final run to a title under his belt.
GOT IT DONE IN 2 MINUTES
Anthony Smith gets the 1st round sub at #UFC301 pic.twitter.com/3TJNem5oRt
— UFC (@ufc) May 5, 2024
Anthony Smith says he’s no longer blinded by becoming UFC champion ahead of his UFC 301 main card fight…
Anthony Smith says he’s no longer blinded by becoming UFC champion ahead of his UFC 301 main card fight against Vitor Petrino.
Smith enters the fight as a massive underdog, as ‘Lionheart’ is coming off a TKO loss to Khalil Rountree. Anthony Smith is 1-3 in his last four fights, as his bout against Petrino is a pivotal one if he’s going to remain a contender.
Ahead of his return at UFC 301, Smith says he’s no longer obsessed with the belt as he believes that was an anchor for him and didn’t allow him to fight freely.
“It’s just blinded me,” Smith told MMA Junkie. “I’m so obsessed with it. I had a really good conversation with Daniel Cormier earlier today, and that’s really what it was about – it consuming me. It’s good because you have to be selfish and you need to be completely dialed in to be successful at this level, but sometimes you can be so obsessed with it that it becomes a fault. I’m almost carrying an anchor with me. It changes the way I fight. It changes the way I think leading up to a fight. So I’m just done worrying about it. That doesn’t mean I don’t want it. I’m done consuming myself with it.”
Smith is a +440 underdog, which implies an 18.5% chance of winning the fight. However, Smith has confidence he will pull off the upset and remind everyone he is still a top-ranked opponent at light heavyweight.
Anthony Smith is facing Vitor Petrino, who called him out after his last win. Although Anthony Smith accepted his callout, he wants this fight to be a message to the young up-and-comers that he isn’t a stepping stone for them to get into the top-10 or top-five.
The King of Rio is BACK
WEC 41: Jose Aldo vs Cub Swanson
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) May 2, 2024
“When I’m done here and on Sunday, the next young, up-and-coming 205er can pick somebody else to pick on. It’s a slight for sure. I’m not that upset about it, to be honest. It’s annoying, but I get it. I’ve been him before. I understand what he’s doing. He’s a young up-and-comer and picked an aging, broke down wounded lion in his mind. Of course he would. He thinks I’m on the downslope and I’ve got a big name and he doesn’t, so I get it. But it’s my job to prove him wrong,” Smith said.
Smith is 37-19 as a pro and 12-9 in the UFC. He is 1-3 in his last four, with his lone win over that stretch being a split decision win over Ryan Spann.
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