“He’s just a regular-sized 205er,” Veteran Anthony Smith warns Alex Pereira ahead of bold light heavyweight move after Izzy loss
After losing the title of UFC Middleweight Championship against his rival Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira announced that he will be competing in the 205-pound weight category.
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(Image via Telecom Asia/MMA fighting)
As per Alex Pereira‘s earlier announcement, he will be competing in the UFC lightweight division. However, veteran fighter Anthony Smith doesn’t seem too concerned about Pereira’s decision. Smith has recently shared his views on Pereira’s choice to compete in the light heavyweight division.
After losing the title of UFC Middleweight Championship against his rival Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira announced that he will be competing in the 205-pound weight category. But as the news spread in the light heavyweight division, Veteran Anthony Smith knew how much damage a person can do in his weight class. Smith is also known for his good striking skills, similar to Alex Pereira. While talking to LowKick MMA, Smith made a bold statement that can be challenging for Pereira.
When the interviewer asked him about his take on Alex Pereira’s decision to move on to the light heavyweight weight class, Anthony said, “It is what it is. It’s just another dude.” Smith made an intriguing statement on Pereira’s size as well when he compared him with Aleksandar Rakic. He said, “I think he’s gonna have problems at 205. He’s a monster Light Heavyweight. Like, put that dude next to Aleksandar Rakic and that dude will make him look tiny. “
Anthony Smith continued, “He’s just a regular-sized 205er in the Top 7 or 8. Obviously, I’m a little bit on the smaller side compared to some of those guys.” Earlier Israel Adesanya had praised the size of Poatan by saying, “What a weird body type. He’s got a body type made for fighting. He might have had one of those giant people in his ancestry. The ones that are 10 feet tall,” on MMA Fighting.
Anthony Smith also compared Alex Pereira’s strengths, Adesanya disagrees
As Anthony Smith continued, he said, “Jan Blachowicz is big, Jiri Prochazka is big, Jamahal Hill is big, Magomed Ankalaev is big, Aleksandar Rakic is absolutely huge. His size was a huge advantage at 185.” But his real rival has a different take on him, as he knows how strong Poatan is. “Good luck to the next motherf****** fighting this guy,” Izzy said, laughing on his YouTube channel.
Smith also commented on Alex’s grappling skills, saying he thinks Alex is a great striker but not a wrestler or grappler. Anthony said, “There’s more grapplers and guys that are — I guess I can’t really say that, there are a lot of grapplers at 185, too. Just none that he ran into. Ankalaev would get a takedown on him, it’s just if Pereira can get up. I would rather see him with Rakic.”
But the middleweight champ thinks it is not going to be that easy for them: “They’re gonna see how ‘easy’ it is. Take him down. That’s like the best thing you can do. But if you want to stand with this guy, f***** good luck. You’re gonna need it.” After getting the victory over Alex, Izzy came up with his actual facts earlier. Although the comparison between middleweight and light heavyweight is different, Izzy himself lost to a light heavyweight earlier due to grappling alone.
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Nikhil Sonmali
(1112 Articles Published)