Anthony Smith has spent the better part of six years ranked among the UFC’s best light heavyweights, but some struggles have suddenly made him the target of several callouts.
Despite the fact that the three losses in his past four fights all came against top 15 opposition, the one-time UFC title challenger knows he has some work to do to climb back up toward the top of the division. Unfortunately, because he’s dealt with some setbacks, Smith has a lot of up-and-coming prospects mentioning his name, including his next opponent Vitor Petrino.
On paper, Petrino’s résumé doesn’t compare to Smith’s, but the 35-year-old veteran still decided to answer the challenge for one specific reason.
“I’m not the name that you’re going to view as a wounded lion that’s got a name and some tenure in the company that you’re going to build your name off of,” Smith told MMA Fighting. “So we’re going to f*cking put that to bed now. We’re just going to be done with it.”
On his Sirius XM radio show leading up to UFC 301, Smith said he felt “offended” that Petrino called him out and he refused “to be the new Neil Magny.”
While Magny caught a stray in his rant, Smith’s explanation highlighted how the veteran welterweight became the most popular callout for anybody looking to make a name for themselves at 170 pounds. Not only was Magny an established top 15 ranked fighter, but he always happily accepted any and all challenges thrown his way.
Smith wasn’t trying to insult Magny, especially after watching him demolish highly touted prospect Mike Malott in his last outing, which seemingly quieted down a whole lot of loud, boisterous welterweights. Smith wants to do the same after beating Petrino on Saturday.
“How many up-and-comers have called out Neil since his last fight? Exactly. F*cking zero,” Smith said. “Because they’re like, ‘Oh, OK, never mind, that guy’s still got something left in the tank and he’s a problem.’ So maybe I’ve got a better skill set or maybe I’m better at this or maybe I’m more athletic, but Neil Magny is not going to go away and he just took out one of the hottest up-and-coming prospects in the division. So that’s kind of exactly what I’m looking to do. Leave me alone. That’s what I want. I want them to leave me alone.
“That’s on me. I put myself in that position. So it’s up to me to change the narrative. That’s exactly what I want to do. That’s why when he called me out, right away I was on the phone with Mick Maynard. Perfect, let’s go.”
Smith didn’t blink when Petrino asked to fight him, and truth be told, the Brazilian might want to offer a little gratitude that the matchup is actually happening.
Deep down, Smith knows he didn’t have to answer the call, and he certainly didn’t have to travel all the way to Brazil for his next fight, but he ultimately embraced the idea.
“Let’s just be honest, if he would have called me out and I wouldn’t have responded, he wouldn’t be getting that fight,” Smith said. “But as soon as he called me out, I kind of rolled all those things in my head. UFC 301 is exactly the timeline I want to fight. I want to get a win in Brazil. UFC 301 is the exact timeline I want to fight, it’s a pay-per-view, he’s Brazilian.
“It’s the type of guy I want to fight. I like the style matchup and he called me out. So I told Mick Maynard right away, ‘If he’s ranked on Tuesday, I’ll fight him in Brazil.’ That’s exactly what happened.”
As much as he understands the public narrative that he’s on a bit of a slide lately, Smith promises that couldn’t be further from the truth.
His record may not reflect it, but Smith believes that he’s still capable of beating anybody at 205 pounds in the UFC. He takes responsibility that fighters like Petrino now feel emboldened enough to call him out and realistically believe the fight could happen.
It all makes sense, but Smith wants nothing more than to put an end to that nonsense in violent fashion.
“I’m f*cking done with this shit,” Smith said. “I’m over it. We’re done with this. We’re going to dead this in its tracks. I’m not done. At least in the gym, I’m as good now as I’ve ever been. I feel really good. I’m moving really well. My conditioning is good. I’m still learning and being able to adjust and change my game.
“As I’m getting a little bit older, there’s some things I’ve got to adjust to. That’s just part of it. But I haven’t lost my speed. I’m still seeing things, like my reaction time is still good. I’m even not really banged up. I don’t want to jinx myself because I’ve still got a couple days left, but I’m not banged up. It’s all going really, really well.”
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