After knocking out the legendary Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the first round of the UFC Hamburg main event as he said he would, Anthony Smith has championship aspirations. These visions of gold, however, do not blind Smith to what he sees to be a horizon without a current defending champion. Anthony Smith has serious doubts that, with Brock Lesnar in the sights of Daniel Cormer, he will be returning to the light heavyweight division; and that, furthermore, Cormier should acknowledge that and allow the division to move on:
“I just don’t think that DC’s gonna come back down to 205,” Smith said Monday on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show. “I think that he already knows that. I just don’t see any world where DC comes back down to 205. And honestly, if I’m being honest with you, I think that DC needs to go back up to heavyweight, and I think he needs to give Stipe his rematch.”
With Cormier soon to be out of the picture altogether, Smith feels that the light heavyweight championship should be vacated. And when that happens, Smith believes that he should be one of the two participants in the crowning of a new king of the division.
“I think so. I do. I think that with my willingness to do whatever is needed in the division…you know Glover’s fell, and Gus is hurt, and Volkan is hurt. Like, who else is there? Who else do you put there?”
As it turns out, Smith may be wrong on both accounts: Daniel Cormier may be returning to light heavyweight for one more match after all, and the “who else” would be a name that Smith omitted from his list of possible contenders: one Corey Anderson, as Cormier accepted Anderson’s public challenge earlier this week.
Do you think Anthony Smith is deserving of a shot at the light heavyweight championship following his performance at UFC Hamburg?
