UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith comes into UFC Singapore on a 2-fight losing streak, but it’s not territory he hasn’t seen before, he’ll try to snap it against Ryan Spann at UFC Singapore on Saturday.
“I think this one’s a little bit different position. I do have a good chunk of losses, but a lot of them are very, very early in my career. And I just wasn’t very f*cking good back then,” Smith told reporters on Thursday about his earlier losing streaks.
“I was making it through a lot of those fights with just will and determination. This is a little bit different. I’ve been a bit inconsistent. I think at times I show up, and I think it’s clear I can beat anybody in the world.”
Smith (36-18) comes into UFC Singapore having dropped two consecutive fights against Magomed Magomedov and Johnny Walker respectively.
“Sometimes I show up and I sh*t the bed. So I’ve just really been working on my consistency. I think that that’s really what it comes down to. My focus, and just trying to bring the best product every time,” he said.
One of those losses came against Glover Teixeira who went onto become the UFC light heavyweight champion before losing the title to Jiri Prochazka. Teixeira’s student, Alex Pereira, came into the 205 division with a victory over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291.
The prospect of fighting someone like Pereira is intriguing for someone like Smith.
“I think that’d be a lot of fun. I like that fight. I like what Alex has brought to the division, I have a lot of respect for him and his game, and I just think it’d be a really fun fight,” he said.
“At 205 he’s not the large, scary, monster that he was at middleweight. He’s fairly normal dude. In terms of just his size and power he doesn’t stand out amongs all of the 205ers.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Anthony Smith above. He takes on Ryan Spann at UFC Singapore on Saturday.
