Anthony Smith Gives Honest Assessment on “Glaring Hole” in His Game Post UFC Charlotte

Anthony Smith has spoken for the first time about his loss at UFC Charlotte to Johnny Walker on the latest episode of the BYM Podcast.

On Saturday night at UFC Charlotte, Anthony Smith (#5) fought Johnny Walker (#7), certainly a huge fight for both as they look towards a title push this year. Walker defeated Smith on points, and the pair swap rankings.

The story of the fight was Walker’s leg kicks, which started early in the first round. He landed 55 across the fight, which swayed the decision in his favour.

That fight now puts Walker on a 3-fight-win streak and helps him climb up the rankings to #5. As a result, Smith is now on a 2-fight-losing streak and has fallen to #7 in the rankings, and there are questions about his future.

Anthony Smith Details the Fight on BYM This Week

Anthony Smith is a regular co-host on the Believe You Me podcast with Michael Bisping, and this week, they discussed the fight:

Smith began by saying: “I wanna get that out there right away; I’m not retiring. I don’t have any excuses; I had an incredible training camp, I left no stone unturned, I didn’t cut any corners, I put the work in, and I was in great shape, uninjured.”

“But, there is a glaring hole in my game” Smith continued.

Bisping then asked: “Which is? Please, I mean because I never saw a glaring hole, but please educate me?”

“It’s the leg kicks” Smith replied.

“Ah you’re right” Bisping responded.

“It’s become a liability at this point, it’s not even a hole in my game anymore, it’s a liability. I’d love to see the numbers and see how many leg kicks I’ve absorbed in my UFC career, it’s gotta be in the thousands” Smith said.

Consequently, this impacts his game plan during fights; “Once you take away my movement, I’m just a sitting duck. My movement is one of the biggest parts of my game. It’s how I ease my way into the distance, it’s how I ease my way just out of range, it’s the slight, real subtle angles. If I can’t do those, and I can’t do those on my timing, then it changes my game.”