Anthony Smith needed to get his mind right heading into his UFC on ESPN 18 showdown with Devin Clark.
The former light heavyweight title challenger entered the matchup on a two-bout skid after back-to-back lopsided losses at the hands of Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic earlier this year. Where “Lionheart” once looked like a Top 5 talent at 205 pounds thanks to victories over the likes of Alexander Gustafsson, Volkan Oezdemir and Mauricio Rua, his recent performances had knocked him down several notches in the divisional pecking order.