Ahead of his return to the octagon at UFC 301, Anthony Smith (37-19) provided a peak behind the curtain of his mindset into accepting a fight with the rising Light Heavyweight Vitor Petrino. In a recent interview with UFC veteran Din Thomas, Smith opened up that he was “offended” by Petrino calling him out.
Petrino (11-0) is riding a 4-fight win streak into UFC 301 since getting a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. Petrino’s streak includes a left hook KO over former Cage Warriors LHW champ Modestas Bukauskas and most recently a decision win over Tyson Pedro in the co-main of UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev. Following the win, Petrino took the opportunity in the post-fight press scrum when asked what’s next to state he’s “asked for Anthony Smith, somebody who’s got a journey in this place, and he’s a formidable opponent.”
Anthony Smith Takes Aim at Petrinos Callout
Anthony Smith expounded on Thomas’ show about Petrino’s call out that he has a career plan from here and does not view himself as an “old wounded lion” like his younger contenders may think of him. Smith’s decision to accept the fight with Petrino is based on the perception that these younger fighters believe they can add a mainstay name in the 205 division to their resumes. Smith stated, “Why didn’t he [Petrino] call out someone higher ranked? Why didn’t he call out [Aleksander] Rakic?…Why didn’t you call out Rakic or Volkan Oezdemir?…Because you think you can beat me. You’re not sure about the other ones and that pisses me off.”
Smith’s concern lies within the notion that divisions occasionally have a gatekeeper-type fighter that is a benchmark for up-and-coming contenders to get that chance at having a ranked number next to their name. Anthony Smith points out UFC Welterweight Neil Magny, who is consistently labelled as the 170 gatekeeper, and exclaims he is not that. The 36 year old Magny has recently fought 5 young contenders in the past 2 years going 3-2 with most recently a win over Canadian upstart Mike Malott in a 3rd round comeback.
Lionhearts Recent Run
In his past four fights, Anthony Smith has fallen to Magomed Ankalaev by TKO, a decision loss to Johnny Walker, split decision win on Ryan Spann, and most recently a TKO loss to light heavyweight powerhouse Khalil Rountree Jr. The Nebraska native has been in this position prior in 2020 following back-to-back losses to future LHW champion Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic where “Lionheart” went through a line of young contenders. In three straight bouts from 2020 to 2021, Smith racked up 3 finishes, 2 submissions and 1 knockout, on Devin Clark, Jimmy Crute, and Ryan Spann which spelled the notion of any rising contender of using his name to elevate themselves in the UFC’s previous marquee division.
However, after the recent span of fights, Smith is back in that position heading into UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Petrino’s backyard, looking to rekindle that magic that previously shot him back into title contention in 2022.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
