Anthony Smith says there’s no rivalry between him and UFC mild heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
Smith and Pereira (10-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) had selection phrases for one another stemming from “Lionheart” questioning if Pereira’s dimension would play an element at mild heavyweight.
That brought on Pereira to go off on Smith, who was baffled by his response. The previous title challenger initially welcomed the rivalry however not a lot.
“That’s one hundred pc it: He’s acquired one thing I need,” Smith informed MMA Junkie. “That’s it. There’s no beef. Personally from what I perceive and from every thing I’ve seen within the again and stuff, he looks as if a reasonably enjoyable and fairly humorous man. He’s acquired a superb humorousness. I feel in an alternate universe we might most likely be mates and have a superb time hanging out.”
Smith (37-19 MMA, 12-9 UFC) meets Vitor Petrino (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC 301 (Pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+) principal card at Rio Area in Rio de Janeiro.
Smith virtually crossed paths with Pereira who’s additionally in Rio, however the UFC prevented that from taking place.
“I heard all of the commotion (with Daniel Cormier and Alex Pereira wrestling within the hallway),” Smith stated. “Actually humorous, I used to be in my media day and naturally they ask me questions and I speak about Alex, then I stroll out of the media day room and there’s like three safety guards, they usually’re like, ‘OK, we’ve acquired to stroll you over right here.’
“I used to be like, ‘That’s bizarre.’ However I’ve my finest pal and my boxing coach and my jiu-jitsu coach and we’re simply speaking and I used to be like, ‘That was bizarre. There wasn’t safety with me this complete time.’ I assumed perhaps Vitor (Petrino) was standing over there and my boxing coach is like, ‘You’re an fool, Alex Pereira was proper there.’ I didn’t see him in any respect.”
Smith has been important of Pereira’s total skillset up to now, so he understands why the UFC would fairly they didn’t come throughout one another.
“For positive (safety was simply taking precautions),” Smith stated. “Simply ensuring that nothing occurs. I’m knowledgeable. I don’t have any beef with Alex. He doesn’t like what I’ve to say on a regular basis, however I don’t assume there’s an precise beef there.”
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