Anthony Smith is without a doubt a modern warrior. A man with 55 wins to his name, a former title challenger and wins over the likes of Shogun Rua, Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir. “Lionheart” is no doubt one of the top light heavyweights the UFC has seen in recent years, the question now: Is he on his way out?
Recent results would point to an inconclusive answer. However, what has not died out is the fire in his belly. This weekend he’s coming in on just over a week’s notice to take on one of the most dangerous fighters in the division Khalil Rountree Jr. The fight represents more than just a “last-minute replacement”. this fight for Anthony represents his relevance in the division, his desire to get another title shot and a chance to prove the doubters wrong.
Anthony Smith: Where are we now?
Fresh of his win against Ryan Spann in August Smith is looking for another run towards the title. Lionheart has been on somewhat of a bad run lately. Loses to Johnny Walker & Magomed Ankalaev started questions about Smiths standing. In a rematch that Anthony Smith called a “loose-loose” he overcame recent struggles to score a decision win against Spann.
However, the questions surround his performances more than results. The Ankalaev fight is an outlier because of an injury suffered early on that stopped the fight. The Johnny Walker fight is a different story, Smith looked hesitant to engage and even rambled “You’re attacking my family” in the third round.
Smith looked out of ideas in the fight and generally struggled for confidence. Arguably this continued in the Spann fight, Smith threw more significant shots as well as total shots, but looked lacklustre and some would say slow.
The question going into this fight is, were these fights just a hiccup?
Leg Kick Cryptonite?
In the aftermath of his fight against Johnny Walker, Anthony opened up about a “glaring hole” in this game:
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.”
Going into this fight there’s an obvious truth: Khalil Rowntree kicks, and he kicks A LOT. 22% of Rountree’s total strikes are leg kicks, and since his Muay Thai evolution this has only become more apparent. You can see below the impact these had on Eryk Anders
Are Khalil’s leg kicks a recipe for disaster for Anthony Smith? We’ll see.
What Needs to be Done
Anthony Smith needs a big performance here if he’s to push back up the rankings. Right now he’s sitting at #8 and with a win will look back up the rankings as opposed to down. Time is catching up to Anthony, at 35 and more than 50 fights deep, it’s safe to say that he’s closer to retirement than his prime.
For Anthony to get a top 5 matchup he’ll need to make a statement. Where he might be able to do so is in his wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu, Rountree has a 56% takedown defence record. With that record of stopping 1/2 takedowns, Anthony has the opportunity here to get Khalil to the ground. From there Lionheart can work positions and look for a finish. He needs a finish.
What do yu think about this matchup for Anthony Smith? Can he rejuvenate his career with a victory over Khalil Rountree Jr? Let us know in the comments
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
