Anthony Smith ready to ‘jump in fire’ with Alex Pereira but won’t ‘trade’ blows with Brazilian

Anthony Smith talks about potentially fighting Alex Pereira even if the offer was for a short-notice bout.

Anthony Smith ready to ‘jump in fire’ with Alex Pereira but won’t ‘trade’ blows with Brazilian

Anthony Smith speaks on fighting Alex Pereira (Image via Imago)

Anthony Smith and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira have had their back and forth, but it has never turned into an octagon showdown. In a recent conversation with Submission Radio, Smith made an interesting statement about setting up a fight between him and Pereira. This is before his upcoming fight in a few weeks at UFC 301. Here is what happened:

Anthony Smith recently sat down to have a conversation with Kacper Rosolowski and Denis Shkuratov of Submission Radio. There, he talked about a potential fight with the light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Smith said he would never turn down a chance to fight ‘Poatan.’

I don’t know if it’s ‘real recognizes real’ a little bit. I’m one of the few guys probably that would really... I would step in the fire with him, and he knows that. Is Ankalaev gonna stand in the pocket and trade with Alex Pereira and really play that game? Probably not.
Anthony Smith via Submission Radio
YouTube video

‘Lionheart’ mentioned having a back-and-forth with Pereira but does not believe there was any real beef between them. However, Smith would not reject the opportunity to fight Pereira if the chance came up. As such, he expects to prove his hypothesis surrounding Pereira.

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Meanwhile, Smith is not in a position to get into a title fight with Pereira anytime soon. His most recent fight was last year when he lost to Khalil Rountree. Now, Smith will face Vitor Petrino at UFC 301 in Rio De Janeiro. Ahead of UFC 301, Smith has sparred with a former Alex Pereira opponent while preparation.

Anthony Smith talks about sparring with Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland’s training sessions are famous on the internet. Strickland trains with everybody and is famous for his intense sparring sessions. Anthony Smith learned something interesting after he sparred with the former middleweight champion.

Sean Strickland
Sean Strickland (Image via Imago)

Anthony Smith recently sat down to have a conversation on MMAFightingonSBN. During the discussion, Smith talked about his sparring session with Sean Strickland. 

That dude's good, he's really good. I don't want to pull the curtain too far back on training, but it- there was a part of me that was shocked at how good he was because he only shows a small part of his game when he fights. The first thing I said to him after the round, like, 'Why don't you do this when you fight?'
Anthony Smith via MMA Fighting

Strickland reportedly kept Smith under pressure for the entirety of three rounds of sparring. He has an upcoming fight against Paulo Costa at UFC 302. Smith felt Strickland did not use the full extent of his skill set. As such, it remains to be seen if Strickland pulls something out at UFC 302.

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