UFC’s Anthony Smith has reportedly accepted a fight against former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. That being said, the fighter is seemingly not quite happy with the state of the UFC roster as it stands.
Rua and Smith are now being targeted for the headliner of UFC Fight Night 134 on July 22. Speaking to Cage Side Submission radio, Smith revealed that he has grown somewhat frustrated with the UFC roster as of late.
“Everyone’s got the same f**cking excuse, it’s the same s**t that happened at middleweight, the guys who are ranked are like ‘I only want to fight other ranked guys. The guys who aren’t ranked tell me to go fight ranked guys. Really when it comes down to it the entire UFC is packed with a bunch of (expletive). It’s guys who don’t really want to fight, they want to protect their ranking.”
“I would be mad as hell if I was Paul Felder, but I know what he is going through as far as it’s difficult to get fights. I don’t know what happened to the days when guys just got a phone call and said ‘This is who you are fighting and here is the date,’ and they just went and fought. I don’t know what happened to that but that’s the era I grew up in and the mentality that I still have I don’t give a s**t who it is and you’ve seen it. I’ll fight Devin Clark, I’ll fight Gustafsson. Whether you’re ranked, a no-name or ranked No. 1, I don’t give a s**t, they are all the same.”
“I don’t want to toot my own horn here, but I get paid as f**k, I’m one of the higher paid 205-ers in the division. You don’t see me weaving my way in and out of the division trying to get the easiest fights. They pay me because I show up and I fight my ass off and I do what I’m supposed to do. If the UFC calls they know that they don’t have to call me first. They call the other guy, they know that when I answer the phone it’s a yes.”
