Anthony Smith has dismissed “cheat” Jon Jones criticisms of him, pointing out that Jones has won three fights in five years, while Smith has done the same in five months.
Denver, CO — Anthony Smith is coming off his third straight victory, and most impressive to date, over Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Moncton just last month. It’s a fight that has propelled him into title contention, though he’ll need to wait for the outcome of Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232. Over the weekend in Denver, Smith, having had a couple weeks to reflect on his win and what’s to come, gave his thoughts on both Oezdemir and Jones, and they couldn’t be more different.
The Moncton fight was arguably Smith’s toughest test, and he told reporters including Cageside Press that “I’m proud of myself because it was a tough fight, but I made it a whole lot tougher on myself. I tell people, there was an easier path to victory with a much lower success rate. There’s an easier way I could have done it, but the chances of me winning were probably low.”
As to what exactly the easy, but less certain path to victory was, Smith suggested it was to “just try to skate around on the outside and pick him apart.”
“I kind of owe Volkan an apology, to be honest with you,” ‘Lionheart’ said. “I wasn’t prepared to get into a mental, tactical battle with Volkan. I just wasn’t. From watching his tape, the little bit he does have out there, it’s really hard to see that Volkan is technically and tactically a great fighter.”
“I was ready for a physical, just drawn out, hard, tough dude,” Smith explained. “That’s the fight I was prepared for.” Expecting Oezdemir to be super tough, what Smith hadn’t prepared for was to “get into some chess match with him. He’s good, man. I was throwing stuff at him, he was giving me different looks, and it was real small. Stuff that’s hard to pick up on film. I don’t know if that’s my own arrogance that got in my way. Who the hell am I to think that the number two dude in the world isn’t ready for a chess match? So I just had to level up and fight. I think that was probably what people were seeing at the beginning.”
Now comes the waiting came. Smith will be at UFC 232, when Jon Jones faces Alexander Gustafsson for the second time. And he’s dead-set on fighting the winner. “I haven’t even thought about another opponent,” he claimed Saturday. Besides, he wanted time off anyway. “I think the UFC is aware I want to take a break.”
Jones, however, reacted to Smith’s win over Oezdemir with little more than a yawn.
Smith wasn’t exactly surprised. “People have been saying that sh*t about me forever. ‘I wasn’t ready for Oezdemir, I wasn’t ready for Shogun.’ Like I keep saying, maybe I’m just good. I don’t know when people are going to entertain that, but I might just be good.”
Suggesting that “Jon is in a weird place right now,” Smith pointed out that “I’ve won three fights in five months. Jon Jones has won three fights in five years. What more do I need to do? I’m busting my *ss, I’m in great, entertaining fights with three finishes. A part of me is like ‘what are you even talking about? You don’t even really fight.'”
Plus, there’s the fact that “until just now, Jon Jones wasn’t even eligible. I think that he was just being a smart *ss, I think that some of the things I say bother him. Because I think that it’s true. I’m not one of these guys trying to build any animosity with Jon, I don’t give a sh*t about Jon Jones. It’s about the title to me. But likely he’s going to be the one that has it, I would guess. So he’s the one that people ask the questions about.”
“Do I think he cheats? Yeah, I do,” Smith admitted. Because there’s plenty of evidence, in his eyes. “Failed drug tests, how can you argue that? He’s been suspended twice for PED use. I’m not the only one talking about Jon Jones, so I don’t know what his deal is, but honestly, I don’t give a sh*t.”
When it comes to trying to talk his way into a fight, Smith doesn’t exactly see it that way. “I don’t have any problem speaking the truth,” he explained. “I say all the time, I’m not out here to start sh*t with anybody. I don’t have a problem with Jon Jones, I don’t know Jon Jones. But I can only speak to what we all know.” He’s been careful not to bring up Jones’ personal life, and the many scandals therein, a route he sees others take frequently. “They want to talk about his personal life, and all the trouble he’s been in. Again I don’t give a sh*t about that either.”
“I just want to fight him, and I think he cheats,” Smith summed up. “That’s it. I think that no one else in the division, other than me and Gus, right now, are legitimate threats to Jon Jones.”
