Anthony Smith targets summer return against ‘exciting’ opponent: “That would be fun”

UFC light-heavyweight contender Anthony Smith is ready to start searching for a fight.

‘Lionheart’ has been out of the cage since a short-notice bout with Khalil Rountree Jr. in December. For Anthony Smith, the fight took place just months after a split-decision win over Ryan Spann. While he hoped to move back into title contention with a win over Rountree Jr., it was instead a brutal fight for the longtime contender.

At UFC Vegas 83, Anthony Smith suffered a third-round knockout loss. The defeat was his third, in his last four octagon appearances. Two months on from that bout, the light-heavyweight contender is seemingly itching to return. Speaking on the Believe You Me podcast with Michael Bisping, Smith discussed his plans to fight again.

There, Anthony Smith revealed his plans to compete in either May or June. While ‘Lionheart’ didn’t name an opponent that he wanted next, he stated that the bout needs to be an exciting one. With that being the basis, Smith doesn’t really care if his next foe is ranked or not, as long as it’s an interesting fight.

In the podcast appearance, Smith admitted that his change in mindset led to his decision to fight again. While some wondered if he would retire following the stoppage loss to ‘The War Horse’, that’s not the case whatsoever.

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(via Zuffa LLC)

Anthony Smith reveals plans to return in the summer, calls to face an exciting opponent

“I’m ready to fight. It kind of just hit me. Not fight, fight, but ready to start finding a fight,” Anthony Smith stated on a recent edition of the Believe You Me podcast alongside UFC commentator Michael Bisping. “I’ve been trying to change my mindset a little bit, and there’s a couple things that matter. The name doesn’t really matter. How I feel about it really matters. I want something that’s exciting. And maybe divisionally it doesn’t make sense, I don’t know. I don’t care if they’re ranked. I don’t care if they’re not ranked, ranked high, I don’t care who it is.” (h/t MMA News)

He continued, “It has to be something that I deem as fun. I know that’s really stupid, but when I hear the name, I want it to be exciting. I want it to be like, ‘Oh, that would be fun.’ I need something that’s fun, and I want to look forward to it. The danger factor doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t care how hard the fight’s going to be.”

“I want it to be someone that gets me excited, and I want it to be somewhere that gets me excited.” Anthony Smith concluded, discussing his plans to return. “The timing, I’m less concerned with the timing. May or June.”

What do you make of these comments from Anthony Smith? Who do you want to see the UFC light-heavyweight contender fight next?