Anthony Smith ‘Definitely Thinks There’s a chance’ he fights Alex Pereira after UFC 295
Perennial light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith believes there’s a very real chance that he could be the first man to challenge Alex Pereira, should ‘Poatan’ walk out of Madison Square Garden with the 205-pound title on Saturday night.
Pereira, who will be competing in his third title fight in less than a year, has the opportunity to claim his second UFC championship in as many divisions when he meets former light heavyweight titleholder Jiri Prochazka to crown a new king of the division. The belt currently sits vacant after Jamahal Hill was forced to lay down the title after suffering a ruptured Achilles during a charity basketball game in July.
Both Prochazka and Pereira recognize that Hill would be coming for the gold once healed up and ready to return, but with an injury that could take a year or more to recover from, it leaves the door wide open for another potential contender to earn their shot.
Enter Anthony Smith, a mainstay in the division’s top ten determined to score a UFC title fight before hanging up his gloves for good. Losing two of his last three, including back-to-back defeats against Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker, ‘Lionheart’ doesn’t appear to be a logical choice for title contention, but with so many injuries plaguing the top of the weight class, Smith believes he could benefit from the lack of contenders available.
I definitely think there’s a chance, for sure,” Smith said during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. “I mean, especially if [Pereira] wins. Looks good doing it. Wants a quick [turnaround].
He continued, “If Jamahal’s ready then it’s him. I couldn’t expect to jump the line on him and I would be jumping the line anyway, which I’m fine with. I think I’ve been around long enough.”
Anthony Smith is asked, if Alex wins on Saturday does he think he’ll fight him next#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/BhopDXvaPk
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 8, 2023
Alex Pereira Accuses Anthony smith of Being a hater
It’s safe to say there is no love lost between Alex Pereira and Anthony Smith. In August, ‘Poatan’ called out the part-time analyst and full-time fighter, believing ‘Lionheart’ has been consistently biased against him in his commentary.
“The issue is, he has his job with the UFC commentating,” Pereira said through a translator on an episode of The MMA Hour. “He’s got to do what he’s got to do, but we feel that since the beginning, he gives me no credit. For example, I made my debut, I came from Glory, he was like, ‘Yeah, he’s a Glory kickboxer, but now he’s fighting a very tough grappler, [Andreas] Michailidis, he’s going to be a wrestler and everything, it’s going to be too much of a challenge.’ I go and knock the guy out.
“Then he goes, ‘Oh, but that guy he fought wasn’t tough. He was a nobody. Now he’s going fight Bruno Silva, beat [Alexander] Schlemenko in Russia by knockout, he’s a beast, this is going to be too much for him.’ I go and beat Bruno Silva, and then that’s when [he says with] Sean Strickland… ‘Bruno Silva wasn’t that tough, but Sean Strickland, he’s a challenge right now. It’s not going to be good for him.’ I go and beat Sean Strickland.
“It’s always something [after],” Pereira continued. “‘Oh, Sean Strickland, that was not a tough challenge,’ and this and that. [He says] ‘He’s still got to prove himself. Now he has to go fight Adesanya!’ I go and beat Adesanya, and then after that, I go up to light heavyweight but [it’s], ‘He just lost his last fight. He’s too small for light heavyweight. He’s a tough fight, Blachowicz. He won’t pass.’ I go and beat [Blachowicz].
“It’s always something going on that Anthony doesn’t give me the proper credit that I deserve. He kind of hates on me a little bit” (h/t MMA Fighting).
Alex Pereira just destroyed Anthony Smith. I have never seen Alex speaking like this before wow 💀 pic.twitter.com/QD5Sc7Xbxk
— AWUREDO (@AOUREDOO) August 28, 2023
‘Lionheart’ Snaps Back
Anthony Smith responded to Pereira’s comments, claiming that ‘Poatan’ had misunderstood him, particularly when it came to his comments about Pereira’s move from middleweight to lightweight.
“I’ll be honest: I texted Glover (Teixeira) yesterday and said, ‘What in the f*ck is this?’” Smith said on his SiriusXM radio show. “I’m trying to figure out which direction I’m supposed to go here. Did he take something out of context? Is he reading headlines, or did he actually listen to what I said? Because what I said was that, essentially, he’s the same size as everyone else. You think if I said Islam (Makhachev) is the same size as every lightweight, he’s going to come at me pissed off about it? No.
“My whole point was that he moved up to 205 so he’s not going to enjoy the same size advantage that he did at 185. That’s it. Is that crazy? Am I wrong?
“I’ve been nothing but complimentary of him and his whole team.”
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) August 29, 2023
Anthony Smith (@lionheartasmith) responds to Alex Pereira’s comments about him.
MMA Today | @RJcliffordMMA @DinThomas pic.twitter.com/D6YX87enFf
Though we can’t necessarily see the UFC chomping at the bit to make a potential title fight between Alex Pereira and Anthony Smith, there is enough background between them to give the hypothetical clash a little nudge in the right direction from a marketing standpoint.
