UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith just took out former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir in the main event of UFC Fight Night 138 over the weekend. Now Smith is setting his sights on former division champion Jon Jones.
UFC News
Jon Jones is currently set to fight former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch for the UFC light heavyweight title. The fight will headline UFC 232 on Dec. 29, live on pay-per-view.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Anthony Smith has gone on to reveal that he wants to take on Jon Jones. However, the tough contender believes he may not be able to defeat the former champion.
“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.
“People can say all day that doubt is a bad thing, but I don’t think that it is. I think doubt motivates people, depending on who you are. I think that Jon Jones being the tallest task in the entire UFC will bring the best out of me, and I think that one of my biggest downfalls is that I tend to fight to my opponent’s level, and fighting up to my opponent’s level is always going to be a positive. You hear people talk bad about fighting to someone’s level when you’re fighting down to them, but I think that I’m one of those guys that I just rise to the occasion when I need to, and I think that I would do the same with Jon Jones.”
