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What's the story?
Following another impressive win over Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Fight Night 138 this past weekend, 'Lionheart' Anthony Smith has set his sights on a potential fight against former two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones.
In a recent interview with The MMA Hour, Smith claimed that Jon Jones will be an easier fight than his last opponent, Volkan Oezdemir.
In case you didn't know...
This past weekend at UFC Fight Night 138 in Moncton, Anthony Smith marked another impressive win by defeating former Light Heavyweight Title contender Oezdemir via third-round submission in the main event of the evening.
The heart of the matter
While speaking with MMA Hour, Smith made his intentions clear about getting a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in the near future and in order to do so, Lionheart is seemingly willing to face off against the top guys who are currently representing the 205-pound division including the returning Jon Jones.
According to Smith, he feels that he is totally capable of knocking out Jones despite the fact there is nobody till date that has scored a legitimate win over the two-time division champion. (H/T: MMA Fighting)
“I’d rather fight Jon Jones, because no one has a legitimate win over Jon Jones, and that’s the stuff that really gets me up. Deep down, I truly believe that I can beat Jon Jones. But deep down, I know that I might not be able to — and that’s what drives me. That’s what motivates me. I’ve been thinking about Jon Jones since I’ve been at 205. It’s never been about ‘Shogun’ or Rashad or even Volkan. It’s trying to get through as many people as I can get through to get to Jon Jones."
In addition, Smith also claimed that he feels Volkan is certainly a tougher opponent than Jones and also someone who is totally hittable.
“I think that Volkan is one of the tougher matchups for me in the entire division just because of the way that he fights. I think that Jon Jones is less dangerous than Volkan is — Jon Jones isn’t one-punch knocking out anybody. It’s just, that’s not his style.
"He’s super crafty, he’s dynamic, I think he has a high fight IQ, but I think that he’s hittable, and I think that I match up with him size-wise pretty well. Obviously he’s got a longer reach than everybody in the entire UFC, but I think that Jon Jones beats a lot of people in that short range with the elbows and stuff, and I think that I’m just as dangerous in that elbow fighting range as anybody in the division.”
What's next?
Jon Jones will make his return to the Octagon at UFC 232 on the 29th of December, 2018 as he faces Alexander Gustafsson in a Light Heavyweight Title rematch. Whether or not Smith gets a shot at Jones in the future remains to be seen.
