Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — Light heavyweight mainstay Anthony Smith landed himself back in the winner’s circle at UFC 301 in Rio on Saturday, picking up his first win in Brazil with a guillotine choke of Vitor Petrino.
The win was something of an upset, with many having dismissed “Lionheart” ahead of the fight, especially after a rough patch that saw him at 1-3 over four fights.
“I’m the most inconsistent guy in the world. So if you want to weigh what I say, or if you want to base your opinion off of my worst moments, good luck. You’re going to end up like Vitor Petrino,” Smith (38-19) responded to critics following the fight. “I’m a big fan of that guy, but when I’m on and my mindset is where it needs to be and I’m focused, and I’m 100% committed and I have a full camp and I’m uninjured, good f*cking luck. I’m just on. I’m just on right now.”
“My last fight, not so much,” admitted Smith, who cited a tough weight cut and lack of a camp for his performance against Khalil Rountree Jr. But he sees the fervent criticism of himself online as perhaps an indicator of “recency bias.”
“I don’t know. It’s just not where my skillset is. I said it over and over and over, yeah I get it, he’s big and strong, he looks good on a beach. But I’ve never seen anyone bench press his way out of an ass-kicking. Not one time.”
Smith also believes that his performance is a sign that “at 35 years old, you can still get better.”
“I think DC [Daniel Cormier] said it on the broadcast earlier, your mid-30s, maybe that’s your new prime,” noted Smith. “You’re as smart as you’re ever going to be, and you’re not quite, depending on who you are, you’re not quite to that spot where you start falling off. Speed falls off just a little bit, but at 205 it doesn’t matter.”
When it comes to recency bias, it’s funny how much difference one fight can make. Smith’s record, which had been 1-3 in his last four, can now be looked at as 2-1 over his last three, or at least 2-2 in his last four. That will bring about questions as to what comes next, but Smith wasn’t looking past Petrino or UFC 301, and hasn’t given much though to the subject.
“I wasn’t lying when I said I haven’t looked ahead at all. I haven’t thought about the future or what’s next, or anything like that.”
One interesting, non-MMA option is a possible grappling match with UFC light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira. Smith has been critical of “Poatan” when it comes to grappling; the champ responded by offering Smith a big advantage and some big money in a grappling match.
“Alex Pereira said he would put up 50K, but I could start on his back. I could start on his back, hooks in. I’ve got five minutes to finish him, and he wants to put 50K up for it,” observed Smith. “I’ll take his 50K. I’ll take his money.”
As for the outcome, “if I start on his back, I’ll choke the sh*t out of him. 100%.”
“Lionheart” also addressed his longevity in MMA following Saturday’s win, telling Cageside Press that “I think some of it, I’m just kind of lucky. I haven’t had any really devastating injuries up to this point. And some of it is just, try hard.”
A willingness to adapt has also helped. “I’m willing to adapt to my age, I’m willing to adapt to things changing a little bit. Even down to the little things,” Smith offered as an example. “My hand speed is still there, my reaction time is still good. I don’t get out as quick as I get in, I think that’s the biggest difference. Having to adjust to, I can step really really deep on a combination, when I was younger I could get out quicker, now as I get a little bit older that time is starting to slow down a little bit. So I’ve had to adjust to that and figure out ways that we can work around it, and it seemed to work this time. I was able to get in and out pretty quick.”
Watch the full UFC 301 post-fight press conference with Anthony Smith above.
