Anthony Smith’s rise in the light heavyweight division has been both sudden and extremely impressive, and although ‘Lionheart’ faces a former title challenger this weekend in Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Moncton, Smith feels ‘in his soul’ he has what it takes to defeat former longtime 205-kingpin Jon Jones if they eventually cross paths.
Smith (30-13) made the move up to 205-pounds earlier this year after being defeated by Thiago Santos at UFC Belem. The 30-year-old has since fought twice at light heavyweight, defeating former UFC champion Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua both by first-round knockout.
Hoping to continue his excellent run of form against Oezdemir this weekend, Smith spoke to MMA Fighting about how he feels the light heavyweight division is now moving forward again with Jones’ return, despite the situation being ‘absolute bullsh-t.