UFC 235: 4 reasons why Anthony Smith has no chance against Jon Jones

#3 He’s not the most durable fighter

Smith wilted under the power of Thiago Santos in early 2018

Okay, so let’s give credit where it’s due; Anthony Smith’s performance against Volkan Oezdemir in October was pretty damn impressive. He was badly hurt by the Swiss fighter in the first round and did well to survive, and then came from two rounds in the hole to submit ‘No Time’ in the third round. But when it comes to his fight with Jon Jones, his apparent lack of durability is somewhat worrying.

Smith is 31-13 in his professional MMA career, and while there’s nothing wrong with taking losses – even the greats lose sometimes in a sport as difficult to succeed in as MMA – it’s notable that of those 13 losses, only one fight went the distance – Smith’s 2016 fight with Cezar Ferreira. Outside of that, he’s been submitted 4 times and stopped via strikes on 8 occasions.

Smith’s supporters would suggest that his lack of durability, particularly in terms of taking strikes, came largely from the heavyweight cut he was performing in order to get to the 185lbs Middleweight limit, and that his chin is no longer an issue at 205lbs. But I’m not so sure – he was still hurt by Oezdemir, and few would deny that Jones is a far more ruthless fighter than the Swiss striker.

After seeing Smith fold against the likes of Thiago Santos, and going back a little further, Adlan Amagov – who fought mostly at 170lbs – it’s just hard to imagine him surviving the kind of barrage that Jones is going to throw at him.