Upon his announcement of his move up to light heavyweight, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold wanted a fight against Jon Jones. Instead, the current 205-pound title holder was booked to face Anthony Smith for his first defense since reclaiming the belt at UFC 232 in December.
Smith stamped himself as a viable light heavyweight contender last year with wins over veterans Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua, and a Performance of the Night victory over Volkan Oezdemir three months ago. Yet, despite these accomplishments, Rockhold is not impressed by the number three-ranked contender.
“Anthony Smith just got a title shot,” Rockhold said on a recent episode of the MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting).