Efter nattens seger mot Volkan Oezdemir vill Anthony Smith möta vinnaren av Jon Jones och Alexander Gustafsson och utmana om titeln i den lätta tungvikten.
Smith (31-13 MMA, 7-3 UFC) har nu gått 3-0 sedan han flyttade upp till den lätta tungvikten från mellanviktsdivisionen. I sin intervju efter att ha besegrat Oezdemir via submission i tredje ronden meddelade ”Lionheart” sin vilja att utmana om titel. En som dock inte verkade särskilt imponerad av Smiths insatts var Jon Jones, som hade detta att säga via Twitter:
It was OK https://t.co/lxGvqC5Pf0
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) October 28, 2018
I en intervju med MMAjunkie svarade Smith så här på Jones kommentar:
If he ain’t worried about it, what’s he watching for? Jon Jones should worry about Alexander Gustafsson first. I think that performance was exactly one Jon Jones would hate to see. You’re not going to get me out of there with a little bit of flash and some hard punches. That ain’t going to happen. But if I was Jon Jones, I would probably be a little bit more worried about Alexander Gustafsson than Anthony Smith right now.
Smith hoppas att Jones besegrar Gustafsson så han kan bli den förste att besegra ”Bones”. Men han menar att Jones kan förlora om han inte tar Gustafsson på allvar.
(He’s not going to win) if he’s more focused about what me and Volkan Oezdemir are doing, that’s for damn sure. The best Jon Jones has to show up to win that fight. I’d imagine with all the time off that Jon is going to train his ass off. He claims that he didn’t train at all for the first one, so the real Jon Jones shows up, I’d imagine he gets it done. I hope he does because that’s who I want. That’s no disrespect to Gustafsson. I want to be the man to take out Jon Jones, but he’s got to get through Gus first.
Om ”Lionheart” skulle få sin titelchans så kommer det inte att ske förrän någon gång under 2019, då Smith känner att han behöver en paus för att vila upp sig.
I’m going to go ahead and get this out here now: I’ve said that I’ll fight anyone, anytime, any place, but I also said that I need a break. My hand’s pretty banged up. We’re definitely going to need an X-ray. My leg’s pretty banged up. So I don’t want any of these idiot 205ers that are ranked in the division – nothing against Dominick Reyes, but I can see it now. As soon as I get home on Monday they’re going to be calling for a fight, and I already said I needed a break, and they’re going to use this as an opportunity to say that I’m turning fights down. I’m telling you guys right now: I’m taking a (expletive) break. I need a goddamn break.
Alexander Gustafsson och Jon Jones kommer att gå match om den vakanta titeln i lätt tungvikt på UFC 232, som äger rum den 29 december i Las Vegas.
