UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith offered some words of advice to Corey Anderson.
Anderson is coming off a TKO victory over Johnny Walker at UFC 244 earlier this month. In the process, he established himself as a potential next contender to face current champion Jon Jones.
However, he has long been vocal about not getting a title shot before and notably traded words with Smith as he felt “Lionheart” wasn’t deserving of his opportunity at Jones earlier this year.
Smith, on the other hand, believes it’s not that complicated — he earned his way to a title shot by beating the top contenders:
“I just beat the next guy,” Smith said in a recent interview (via MMA News). “When the UFC said, ‘Oh, what do you think’s next?’ ‘Whoever you think is next. Who do I gotta beat to get to a title shot?’ ‘Well, Volkan Oezdemir’s number 2.’ ‘Give me that f*cking guy then.’ And that’s what I did. Sometimes you gotta put your head down, and you gotta work, and stop complaining all the time.”
Anderson notably told the UFC to release him if he didn’t get the next title shot after Dominick Reyes. However, Smith advised him to simply keep working hard and continue to beat the fighters ranked above him.
“Overtime” can start by facing him:
“Just put your head down, and beat the next guy, and don’t complain about it,” Smith continued. “And then, every once in awhile, try to be a little bit exciting and stop talking sh*t about the guys that are doing it right.
“You want to talk sh*t about Thiago Santos? Thiago Santos got a title shot. You want to talk sh*t about me? I got a title shot. So instead of talking sh*t, maybe emulate what we do a little bit, try to get a goddamn finish, stop talking sh*t about the UFC and just beat the next guy. It’s that simple.
“I don’t understand this formula in his head, it’s like he’s doing brain surgery. It’s not that hard. I’m the next guy that you have to beat. It’s that simple.”
Do you agree with Smith?
