Anthony Smith is growing weary of emerging contenders attempting to use him as a means to climb the ladder.
Vitor Petrino (11-0 MMA) threw down the gauntlet at Smith (37-19 MMA) after securing a victory over Tyson Pedro less than a fortnight ago at UFC Fight Night 238. His request has been granted, and he will square off against the former title challenger at UFC 301 on May 4 in Rio.
Smith finds himself irked by Petrino’s callout. Having spent years facing former champions and the cream of the division, “Lionheart” has recently been facing opponents lower down the rankings. He is determined to make aspiring fighters pause before targeting him.
Smith expressed his sentiments on MMA on SiriusXM’s MMA Today:
“I’m offended. Why didn’t he call out someone higher ranked? Why didn’t he call out (Aleksandar) Rakic? As far as timelines go, Rakic is going to be fighting soon. That would be a little closer to your timeline, in terms of two guys that are fighting around the same time. Why didn’t you call out Rakic or Volkan Oezdemir? Why didn’t you call out any of those guys? Because you think you can beat me. You’re not sure about the other ones and that pisses me off.
“I’m not done. I’m not the old wounded lion that’s just pacing around waiting to be killed by the younger ones. That’s not me. I refuse to be the new Neil Magny. That’s three guys in a month and a half that have fought, won, and called me out. All unranked, all young guys. We’re going to dead this right in its tracks. Call me a gatekeeper. Call me whatever the hell you want to call me, but here’s the fact: I’ve been fighting inside the top 10 for a very long time and have been fighting in the rankings in two different weight classes for a very long time.”
Smith is well-versed in thwarting the ambitions of up-and-coming contenders. He spoiled Devin Clark’s inaugural main event by submitting him, halted Jimmy Crute’s momentum, and triumphed over Ryan Spann on two occasions – and he intends to continue establishing himself as a premier light heavyweight.
“If your favorite fighter isn’t already in the top 10, he won’t be until I’m gone. “F*cking like it or not, that’s just the life that we live in right now. I’ve got a career plan with where I’m headed and it starts with shutting these young guys up, and then we’ll go to the next one. …My plan, when this is all done, is to not have another young guy open his f*cking mouth with my name in it again.”
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