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Anthony Smith suffers gnarly eye injury in razor thin decision win over Ryan Spann – UFC Singapore Highlights

Having previously submitted arch-rival, Ryan Spann back in 2021, one-time light heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith managed to survive some serious adversity from the second round onward in the co-main event of UFC Singapore tonight — defeating the former for the second time in his career in a close, split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) victory. […]

Back to the winner’s enclosure for the first time in two years since his submission win over Spann, Nebraska veteran, Smith was forced to continue through a massive swelling around is left eye caused by a left hand from the former, gritting through from the second frame through to the third to win a close split judging triumph.

Announcing plans for a title siege following a prior 2019 decision loss to former division kingpin and current heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, Smith, who had entered tonight’s pairing with Spann off the back of consecutive losses to both Magomed Ankalaev, and Johnny Walker, can now enter the winner’s enclosure for the first time in two years.

Below, catch the highlights from Anthony Smith’s decision win over Ryan Spann

Anthony Smith still chasing championship win ahead of UFC Singapore return: ‘Sometimes I sh*t the bed’

Slated to co-headline UFC Singapore this weekend, one-time light heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith still retains plans to eventually lift Octagon gold, all while openly discussing his lapses throughout his tenure in the Dana White-led organization. Set to return to the Octagon this weekend in Kallang, Nebraska veteran, Smith co-headlines the ‘Fight Night’ billed event […]

Set to return to the Octagon this weekend in Kallang, Nebraska veteran, Smith co-headlines the ‘Fight Night’ billed event – taking on former foe, Ryan Spann in an important rematch.

Sidelined since suffering a one-sided decision loss to Johnny Walker at UFC Fight Night Charlotte back in May, Smith managed to land a first round rear-naked choke win over Spann back in 2021, which came as his third victory as part of a three-fight winning run, and ultimately, his most recent triumph inside the Octagon.

Anthony Smith opens up on career mistakes ahead of UFC return

Attempting to remain within the light heavyweight top-10 this weekend, Smith admitted that he still planned to go one better and achieve title success which he missed in a 2019 fight against current heavyweight kingpin, Jon Jones, post-UFC Singapore.

“The whole reason I’m still here and still in this journey is the title,” Anthony Smith told assembled media ahead of UFC Singapore. “The second that I think that I can’t win it or that it’s too far out of reach, then I’ll be done doing this.”

“I’ve been a bit inconsistent,” Anthony Smith explained. “I think at times I show up, and it’s clear I can beat anyone in the world, and sometimes I show up and sh*t the bed. So I’ve just really been working on my consistency. I think that’s what it comes down to: my focus and just trying to bring the best product every time. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to adjust some of my training and approaches and recovery stuff. It’s just a learning process.” (Transcribed by MMA Junkie)

As part of that aforenoted three-fight winning run, Smith, 35, landed consecutive victories over both Devin Clark and Jimmy Crute, to go with his Performance of the Night submission win over the above-mentioned, Spann.

Can Anthony Smith land light heavyweight gold before his UFC time is up?

Anthony Smith sees Alex Pereira struggling at 205: ‘He’s not the large scary monster he was at middleweight’

Anthony Smith doesn’t see Alex Pereira posing as much of a threat in the light heavyweight division as he did at 185. ‘Lionheart’ will look to snap a two-fight losing skid this Saturday as the promotion heads to Singapore for a stacked event headlined by the return of fan-favorite Chan Sung Jung, aka The Korean […]

Anthony Smith doesn’t see Alex Pereira posing as much of a threat in the light heavyweight division as he did at 185.

‘Lionheart’ will look to snap a two-fight losing skid this Saturday as the promotion heads to Singapore for a stacked event headlined by the return of fan-favorite Chan Sung Jung, aka The Korean Zombie. In the co-main event, Anthony Smith will run back his September 2021 scrap with Ryan Spann. On that night, Smith scored a first-round rear-naked choke submission. He’ll look to repeat that result in Lion City this weekend.

Ahead of his return to the Octagon, Anthony Smith sat down with members of the media to discuss his upcoming contest and the state of the light heavyweight division.

Of course, you can’t talk about the 205-pound weight class without addressing the division debut of former middleweight world champion Alex Pereira. Poatan’ scored a closely-contested split decision over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 to secure himself an opportunity at light heavyweight gold.

“I like what Alex has brought to the division. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and his game and I just think it would be a really fun fight,” Smith said during his appearance at the UFC Singapore press event. “I think it would bring a little bit of intrigue to the fight just because of Glover and I’s history. Anything I can do to get a win over Glover, I will absolutely do.“

Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira are far from strangers. The pair squared off inside the Octagon in 2020 with Teixeira coming out on top via a fifth-round TKO. In June, the pair competed against one another in a submission grappling match at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4. Teixeira once again saw his hand raised, this time via decision.

“As much as I like that guy and after the grappling thing, him and I, and his wife and mine sat and had some beers and talked about potential matchups with me and Alex and you know, it is what it is,” Pereira continued. “It’s all business. We’re all martial artists and competitors. It’s nothing personal.”

Not bad for a 43 year old!

Glover Teixeira gets another win over Anthony Smith, this time in jiujitsu. The former UFC champ won a unanimous decision.

pic.twitter.com/h8U88IQL4t

— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) June 30, 2023

Anthony Smith Sees Alex Pereira Struggling in the Light Heavyweight Division

Speaking about Alex Pereira’s somewhat controversial win over Jan Blachowicz, Anthony Smith suggested that it was an eye-opening experience for the former GLORY Kickboxing world champion.

“It was a really close fight. I think probably 50% of the people had Alex and I think the other half had Jan,” Smith said. “I thought Alex looked pretty good. To be fair, I thought Jan looked pretty good as well. He was able to do a lot of things that Jan Blachowicz typically does to be successful. I think that Alex had a little bit of an eye-opening moment at 205. He’s not the large scary monster that he was at middleweight. He’s a fairly normal dude.

“Now because he’s so technical and has such an incredible striking game, he’s always going to be special, but in terms of just his size and power, he doesn’t stand out amongst all of the 205ers and I don’t think that Alex Pereira is more powerful than Aleksandar Rakic. He’s not going to be stronger than a guy like [Magomed] Ankalaev. These dudes are big, powerful, hard-hitting dudes, every single one of them.

“Because he’s such a good striker, he’s still going to be special, but it’s not going to just be his power and his strength that’s going to push him over the top anymore.”

Anthony Smith reflects on career choices ahead of UFC Singapore: ‘I wanted to be a bigger version of Donald Cerrone

Former UFC light-heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith, reflects on his career ahead of his Octagon return this weekend. Smith will be looking to earn his first win since 2021 at UFC Fight Night Singapore, in what will be a rematch of that fight, taking on Ryan Spann. While his latest outings have been less than […]

Former UFC light-heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith, reflects on his career ahead of his Octagon return this weekend.

Smith will be looking to earn his first win since 2021 at UFC Fight Night Singapore, in what will be a rematch of that fight, taking on Ryan Spann. While his latest outings have been less than encouraging, Smith has enjoyed a successful career in the UFC.

Smith has gone 11-8 with the promotion and has fought consistently and against the toughest opposition possible – challenging Jon Jones for his 205lb title back in March of 2019. Lionheart’ holds wins over the likes of Alexander Gustafsson, Rashad Evans and Volkan Oezdemir and half of his losses with the UFC have came to either former champions, or former title challengers.

Anthony Smith reflects on career mindset

Smith is more than willing to face anyone, regardless of circumstances and clearly takes pride in this mindset. Talking to ESPN, Smith discussed this and would draw a comparison to UFC legend, Donald Cerrone.

“I’ve just always had the mindset that if you wanna be the champion you’ve gotta be able to beat everybody,” Smith explained. “And I haven’t done that up to this point, I’ve had some hiccups. Listen man, here’s my biggest mistake. I’ve always said that I wanted to be like the bigger version of Donald Cerrone. Like I’ll fight anybody, anytime, anyplace.” (H/T MMA News)

While the mindset is commentable, Smith has concluded that it may have been to the detriment of his career.

“I’ve lived up to that. I’ll take all comers, I’ll fight lower-ranked guys, I’ll fight higher-ranked guys, I’ll fight on short notice,” Smith continued. “I’ll fight across the world, it doesn’t matter. What I didn’t take into account is maybe I’ve absorbed some of the inconsistencies that Donald Cerrone’s seen at times, where I think sometimes I show up and I can beat anybody in the world and sometimes I’m not as consistent. That’s really my issue man. I don’t really care who the opponent is, I’m just worried about trying to be as consistent as possible.”

Anthony Smith talks to ESPN

How do you think Anthony Smith will do this weekend?

Conor McGregor’s conduct on TUF 31 questioned: ‘He’s kind of whining, complaining, throwing tantrums’

Former two-weight UFC champion, Conor McGregor has been heavily edited during this season of The Ultimate Fighter 31 according to light heavyweight contender, Anthony Smith – who claims footage shows the Dubliner in a rather unfavorable light. McGregor, who has served as opposing coach on The Ultimate Fighter 31 this season – taking on Michael […]

Former two-weight UFC champion, Conor McGregor has been heavily edited during this season of The Ultimate Fighter 31 according to light heavyweight contender, Anthony Smith – who claims footage shows the Dubliner in a rather unfavorable light.

McGregor, who has served as opposing coach on The Ultimate Fighter 31 this season – taking on Michael Chandler, withthe duo expected to fight at the welterweight in their next respective fights.

Conor McGregor has yet to land a victory on this season of TUF

Making his return to the reality television show following a 2015 appearance opposite former WEC featherweight champion and former UFC bantamweight title challenger, Urijah Faber, leaked footage last week appeared to show Conor McGregor falling to 0-6 this season, with Straight Blast Gym teammate, Lee Hammond suffering a second round guillotine choke loss to Kurt Holobaugh.

And according to Smith, McGregor – who engaged in a tense face-off and physical altercation with Chandler off the back of Hammond’s loss on this week’s episode, has been cast in a bad light due to editing of the show.

“I also don’t think that this season of The Ultimate Fighter 31 is doing him (Conor McGregor) very well,” Anthony Smith said on an episode of Believe You Me. “I think people are getting annoyed by him and that’s not necessarily his fault. It’s a lot of editing, you know what I mean, I just don’t think he’s being portrayed, he looks like a great coach but it’s also making him look like a baby. Like he’s kind of of whining, complaining, throwing tantrums.” (H/T MMA News)

In the midst of a two-fight losing skid, McGregor dropped a January 2021 knockout loss to former interim lightweight champion, Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

In July of that year in the pair’s subsequent trilogy rubber match, McGregor fractured his left tibia and fibula in the opening frame, suffering a first round doctor’s stoppage TKO defeat.

Jamahal Hill picked to beat Alex Pereira in potential UFC title fight: ‘It’s a matchup thing, though’

Expected to attempt his first defense of the undisputed light heavyweight title before the close of the year, Jamahal Hill has been picked to likely hand former UFC middleweight champion, Alex Pereira a loss in a potential future championship showdown. Hill, the first product of Dana White’s Contender Series to strike gold under the banner […]

Hill, the first product of Dana White’s Contender Series to strike gold under the banner of the UFC, managed to do so back in January at UFC 283 in Brazil, defeating former champion and Alex Pereira’s compatriot, Glover Teixeira in the pair’s vacant title fight.

Expected to return to the Octagon – potentially in September of October of this year, Illinois native, Hill has been tipped to fight former division champion, Jiri Prochazka in his first title defense – with the Czech Republic native vacating his title back in December of last year after suffering a catastrophic shoulder injury.

Jamahal Hill tipped to defeat Alex Pereira in future title fight

And while the surging champion is already preoccupied with Prochazka, he has been picked to solidly defeat former champion, Pereira – if they ever share the Octagon.

“I think Jamahal Hill beats him (Alex Pereira) too,” Anthony Smith told Ariel Helwani on The MMa Hour. “It’s a matchup thing, though. It’s a matchup thing. There’s a lot of guys at light heavyweight that he’ll beat and could look really great doing it. Jan Blachowicz is tough.”

For now, however, Pereira is slated to make a light heavyweight division debut at UFC 291 in July, taking on former division champion, Jan Blachowicz, and according to Smith, the Brazilian could also struggle with him – before any title fight.

“Again, we’re talking about leg kicks here – Jan Blachowicz might be the best kick defender in the entire UFC, and I’ve been saying that for a long time,” Smith explained. “But, if you go back and even watch the (Israel) Adesnaya fight, it all starts with the leg kicks.”