Anthony Smith is a massive underdog heading into his UFC 235 title fight against Jon Jones, but ‘Lionheart’ thinks it would be foolish for fans to write him off so soon.
Speaking to MMA Junkie in a recent interview, Smith said he can’t believe how many fans and pundits think his fight against ‘Bones’ is a mismatch.
“I think it’s goddamn amazing that all these people are assuming that if me and Jon Jones fight, he’s going to get me out of there in one round,” he said.
Jones has dominated almost all of his opponents inside the Octagon, and the Jackson-Wink protege returned to top form at UFC 232 where he earned an authoritative TKO stoppage over Alexander Gustafsson in the main event. The New York-born fighter is the first three-time light heavyweight champion in the promotion’s history.
Smith, who is on a three-fight win streak, acknowledges Jones’ dominance as champ but doesn’t think the pound-for-pound great stands out in any one area in particular.
“He doesn’t hit any harder than (Volkan) Oezdemir and Hector Lombard,” Smith said. “He’s not any better of a wrestler, for the most part, of guys that I’ve fought. And he’s not any better a jiu-jitsu guy that all the guys I’ve fought. He puts it together better than anyone that’s in the game right now. But he doesn’t wow me anywhere, especially the fight that he just had.”
Smith also wasn’t particularly impressed with Jones’ performance at UFC 232.
“I wasn’t impressed,” he said. “And I don’t mean it wasn’t a fantastic performance, because it was. But I didn’t watch the fight and think, I couldn’t handle that. I saw a guy that has holes that can be exploited as long as you attack it in the right way.
“I also saw a guy that wasn’t nearly as arrogant. Jon’s biggest attribute is his genuine delusion. Jon is genuinely so delusional and so arrogant that he is unbeatable that it works in his favor, and he almost creates the illusion that is. He fights with this complete arrogance and disregard for his opponents. And if he loses that, he loses a lot of his ability.”
UFC 235, which is expected to feature Jones vs. Smith as the main event, takes place on March 2nd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.