Anthony Smith believes that Jon Jones sitting out isn’t doing anyone any favors.
Anthony Smith spoke about his old nemesis Jon Jones on the most recent episode of The MMA Hour. Smith, who will take on Ryan Spann on September 18th, doesn’t like Jones sitting on the sidelines as long as he has been. Not only does Smith think it’s a bad idea for the former light heavyweight champion, but it could also put an asterisk by the name of anyone who defeats him.
“You don’t get better at something by not doing it. Chael [Sonnen] says that all the time. You don’t get better at something by not doing it. Father Time is undefeated…
“Sitting around isn’t helping. So what I don’t want to happen is Jon [Jones] to come back, lose, if that happens, and then it be because he had a long layoff. And then, whoever happens to be the one to beat him, doesn’t get the true credit that they would deserve for doing that.”
Anthony Smith (35-16) is no stranger to “Bones.” Smith went the distance with the former champ in 2019 but failed to solve the riddle that is Jones. Since his loss to Jones, “Lionheart” has gone 3-2 in the Octagon. He is on a two-fight win streak, with his most recent bout seeing him stop Jimmy Crute via TKO at UFC 261.
Jon Jones (26-1) has been absent from the sport since UFC 247. It was there that Jones took a unanimous decision over Dominick Reyes. After the victory, Jones began allegedly calling for “Deontay Wilder” money and bashed UFC brass over his pay. He later relinquished his belt and claimed to be going up to heavyweight to meet Francis Ngannou.
Jones’ heavyweight title aspirations are in limbo at the moment. The next contender for Ngannou is the newly christened interim champ, Cyril Gane. Stipe Miocic accepted a bout with Jones, but Jones’ team recently shut the challenge down.
Do you think we’ll ever see Jon Jones compete in the UFC again?
