Anthony Smith is happy that Jon Jones is reinstated. It’s not because the light heavyweight upstart is friends with Jones, its because he wants to fight him.
Smith will be taking on the No.2 Volkan Oezdimer in the main event of UFC Moncton. For Smith, names don’t matter so much as the number next to them, and Oezdimer’s is pretty low.
Given the state of the 205-pound division, almost anything can happen. Daniel Cormier currently sits atop the gander. However, all indications are that he will be stripped the moment Jones and Alexander Gustafsson fight at UFC 232. Presumably for the vacant 205-pound title.
Smith knows there has never been a better time to be a red-hot light heavyweight prospect than now.
Smith Knows His Time Is Now
“It is really bizarre what’s going on with the division right now, but I think that it’s starting to clear up,” Smith told MMA Fighting. “Regardless of how you feel about Jon Jones and all the stuff that’s going on with him, the division is moving again. The title’s back in rotation and we’re starting to move around a little now, which is a good thing, regardless of how anybody feels about Jon. And I’ll never talk about Jon’s personal life — I will absolutely talk about his steroid use, but as far as his personal life, it is what it is. That’s on him.
“But it’s moving, and he’s — again, regardless of what you think, Jon Jones deserves to be in that spot. That’s just how it is. So, it’s good for me. I think that if I can win and I can get a dominant finish over Volkan, and with Jon Jones and Gustafsson fighting for it, those are three people out of the way, so I don’t see who else is in front of me. I don’t know else can argue for that title shot after that.”
Smith’s rise up the light heavyweight ranks parallels his move to the division. He used to kill himself trying to make the 186 pound limit for middleweight. The 30-year-old Smith is now 2-0 in his new division and he is set to headline his second straight UFC event. Above all, he credits his never-give-up never-surrender attitude for his career turnaround.
“I’m not going to be the guy who’s too proud to tell you that a lot of it is, just you’ve got to talk yourself into it,” Smith admitted about his career turnaround. “If you’re going through all of the bad bullshit, then you have to tell yourself something positive. So you tell yourself that if you keep pushing, you’re going to make it. If you keep pushing. But honestly, deep down, you don’t really know. You’re hoping. You’re hoping that what you’re saying is true, but I think vindicated is a really good word. It’s just like, ‘Alright, I was right. Now let’s just keep on going,’ and the confidence that comes along with that. If I can do something that I’m not even sure I can do, what can I do when I know for sure?”
Today Smith is as confident as ever. Heading into Moncton he has never felt better. And although he isnt looking past Oezdimer, he would love to fight “Bones” Jones. If nothing else for pride. However, “Lionheart” definitely is calling ‘BS’ when it comes to Jones recent reinstatement.
Smith On Jones’ BS Suspension
“I think it’s absolute bullshit. But what do you do about it?” Smith said of Jones. “What do we do about it? Nothing. The competitor in me is happy that he’s back, because I 100 percent mean this and I feel it in my soul: I can beat Jon Jones. I have the ability, I have the skill, and I’m probably the only legitimate threat to him right now. And I mean that. That’s not just a sound bite — I 100 percent believe that I can beat Jon Jones. With him getting a long suspension, that kinda looks a little bit different and there’s always going to be those questions. Say I beat Volkan and then I get a title shot against Alexander Gustafsson and I beat him, you’re always going to get the Jon Jones question, I don’t want any questions.
“I want to be the best in the world and I want everybody to know it, I don’t want the, ‘Well, Jon Jones is suspended, so…’ I don’t want that shit. But the sportsman in me thinks that it’s bullshit. It’s three failed tests and he’s still eligible — how does that happen? I mean, I can break it down that simple, how does that happen?”
Essentially the winner of UFC Moncton’s main event is fighting for the right to face the winner of Jones-Gus II. And although Smith is on fire heading into Saturday (Oct 27, 2018) night, Oezdimer has been just as impressive. A fact Smith is well aware of.
Smith On Oezdimer
“He’s obviously very powerful,” Smith said. “He’s got his own sneaky kinda style, you know? His punches kinda come from weird angles and he’s got fast hands and he’s very powerful, so that’s something we definitely need to be aware for. But I don’t see anything special. I don’t see the killer that everyone else sees, I just don’t see it, I think that he caught a lot of guys by surprise because they didn’t really know what to expect, because he was new on the scene. The jig is up now, we get it. You’re a fast starter and you’ve got heavy hands. That’s really the dangers that he brings to the table and I don’t see anything outside of that. He’s big, sure, he’s strong. He’ll be a bear in those clinch positions for a while, I’m sure, but he definitely shows the tendency to fade, and I think that it’s pretty clear that in the latter part of my career I’ve shown the ability to get stronger as the rounds go on, and I think that’s going to be a problem for him once we get out of the first round
“The stuff that I really get out of his fight with Cormier was mental. I saw an inability to deal with adversity. I saw that once he gets tired, he doesn’t have the ability to really push through it and come out the other side of it. And again, in a lot of fights in my career I’ve had to come from two rounds down and I need a third-round finish, and I’ve shown the ability to do that, and he just hasn’t,” Smith continued.
“He keeps saying over and over and over, the only thing he keeps saying in the media is, ‘Now Anthony’s fighting in the top of the division, let’s see how he does.’ Well, you just did it — how’d you do? You’re so focused on me, you need to worry about yourself. If you’re so focused on my losses in the past and my ranking, you’re focused on the wrong things. Because if you really dig deep into that, that’s not really the case. I’ve won 13 out of 15, something like that. We essentially have the exact same record in the last 15 fights. So he keeps talking about, ‘You got so many losses’ — I just don’t know what he’s focused on. You need to focus on yourself and getting better. Because if you bring to me what you brought to Daniel Cormier, you’re going to be in for a long f*cking night.”
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