MMA Fighting - Anthony Smith Talks Short-Notice Main Event Win, His Tumultuous 2020 and Plans for the Future

Episode Date: December 1, 2020

Anthony Smith details his short-notice main event win against Devin Clark, why he requested a five-round fight on just 24 hours' notice, the crazy year he's faced during 2020 including a pandemic, a home invasion, two tough losses in a row and then capping things off with a win this past Saturday night. Smith will also discuss what comes next including his plans at light heavyweight and the timeline for his return to action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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So download the app today and get $0-dollar delivery fees on your first three orders. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Service fees exclusions in terms apply. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. It was a tough start to the year for my next guest after a home invasion, followed by two losses in a row. But this past Saturday night, he bounced back with a convincing first round submission win over Devin Clark in the main event at UFC Fight Night on ESPN. Let's talk to Anthony Smith. There he is Anthony Smith.

What's going on, buddy? How are you? I'm good, man. How are you? I am excellent. Thank you for taking the time as always. I had to call you out. after you called me out for not texting you back,

so I figured I had to call you out for make sure you texting me back this time. Yeah, I did, too. Well, let me start by saying congratulations, man. What an amazing performance. It had to feel good, not only getting the win, but getting a win that way. Yeah, yeah, it's been a while since I had a quick first round finish, hasn't it? I don't know, it just felt good to get that monkey off my back. I know a lot of people had a bunch of questions about where I was, so instead of just talking about it the whole time, it's nice to just show everyone, I suppose.

Yeah. Kind of give me a rundown of what, like, the fight the day before the fight was like, because obviously we heard about Curtis Blades, testing positive for COVID. You and Devin end up moving into the main event, and then you both accept a five-round fight, which was kind of crazy, considering you were fighting three rounds. I mean, what was that, you know, 24-48-hour period like for you? honestly I woke up Friday morning I still had I still had weight left to cut which is kind of a new thing for me at 205 typically I wake up on weight without really even changing anything so I woke up and I had a couple text messages asking if I was getting moved to the main event I didn't really know what the hell was going on so I you know Twitter is usually the first to jump on all over that shit so I jumped on Twitter and seen that one of them was out and it wasn't quite sure who but uh So I anticipated that they were going to be calling, but I just, I don't know, man. I was kind of just focused on my own shit and what I had to do. So I just started cutting weight.

And obviously, eventually my manager hit me up and, you know, said, hey, this is what they're, this is what they want to do. I didn't really feel any different to me, I mean, especially because I just did that same exact thing, not that long ago. You know, I just, it was a little obviously shorter notice this time. But, you know, I trained really hard the whole time anyways. it the amount of training and the amount of strength and conditioning and the amount of stuff that I do leading into a fight, whether three rounds or five, it looks the same anyway.

So it doesn't really change anything for me. Now, Devin, I'm sure, had a lot to deal with. He was already coming from typically being a prelim fighter to get moved to a co-main event. So that was already a big jump for him. And then moving into the main event, I'm sure that it affected him significantly, but it didn't really change much for me. How did the five rounds thing happen? I mean, obviously it didn't matter at the end of the day

because you finished in the first round. But, I mean, was that your suggestion? Did the UFC ask you to do that? Like, how? Because we heard a little confusion. Was it three or five rounds? You know, I don't want to be the one. I'm not going to shit on Devin.

But initially, when they went to him, he wanted three rounds. They called me, and I said, no, I want five. And Mick Maynard loved that idea. He was super pumped about that. that I wanted five rounds and went back to Devin. And I kind of hold the cards at that point in time. You know, like that's what I wanted. I think that that's what typically I think the UFC likes.

So then it was five rounds. Well, then Dana, I think just because it was such short notice, I don't think he really wanted to put us on the spot like that. Dana was pretty adamant about it only being three rounds. And I really think that it's just for no way. He didn't ever give a reason. I do think that it was just, you know, we were scheduled for three. and it was on 24 hours notice.

So I think that that was kind of where his thought process was. And he was kind of sticking heavy to that. He wasn't really, he wasn't budging. So I just, instead of my manager calling and texting him and trying to get a hold of him, I just text him myself and just told him kind of where I was at that I know that I had a couple bad performances and that I owed it to him in the UFC and myself to write that ship. and I'm a five-round fighter.

I've been fighting main events for a long time, and I just told him I don't ask for anything. You know, I've never asked Dana White for anything ever. And I definitely am not going to start asking for things unless I'm 100% positive that I'm going to come through on my end and keep up my end of the bargain. I told him that if he would give me the opportunity to have a normal five-round main event

that I would make sure he didn't regret it. And honestly, he texted me back right away and said, done. There was no going back and forth. There was a one-word answer. He said, done. I love it. I love it.

Obviously, at the end of the day, it didn't matter because you got a first-round finish. But I just thought that was so crazy because, again, I don't know a lot of people would have been willing to do that. And I don't necessarily blame them for that. Like I said, a five-round fight is no joke. And obviously, you prepared for a lot of them lately, but still, it's a tough ask. And the fact that you were willing to do it on a short notice, that's a lot. Yeah, you know, I just, I think that that's what's always set me apart from everybody else, though. I'm willing to do the things that other people aren't willing to do.

I think that that's why the UFC has always taken such good care of me. I think that that's why I get a lot of the opportunities that I get up. You've got to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack. And it's not always just by your performances. It's not always just by how you fight. I think it's what you're willing to do when other people are. And I think it's the things that nobody really, really thinks about, you know, five rounds are tough.

And if you can get out of it and still be in a main event, I think most people would do that. But, you know, I think, again, that's what sets me apart that I'm not always, I'm not the guy that's always going to take the easy route. Yeah. Now, before the fight, Anthony, I asked you during Media Day, I said, one of my biggest issues with our sport, and obviously we both love the sport, but one of the biggest problems I have is, you know, the old adage, if you win one, you're the greatest ever, you lose one, and suddenly you're not worth, you know, you're not worth your contract, because unfortunately we are very

reactionary in this sport. And again, I wish we weren't, but that's just the reality of this sport, and I don't think it's ever going to change. But obviously, coming off two losses in a row, you knew you had the pressure on. You knew you had, you know, you're back against the wall, so to speak, considering you were a title contender a year ago, and kind of expectations were always very high for you. But you seem so relaxed and so just kind of tuned in during fight week. And I'll be honest. honest, when your fight got announced, I was like, man, I'm actually kind of surprised that Anthony's making such a quick turnaround. I thought maybe you take a little time off,

you know, figure out what you're going to do with your weight class, enjoy the holidays, and then boom, you're right back in there. But kind of give me like an idea. Well, I thought, I thought, I said, I thought. But to come in there and do what you did, how gratifying and how satisfying was a win like that and doing it the way you did? I it's hard to put into words man I that's that's just how I've always done it I I'm not one of those guys man you see these you see some these people they they lose and they're struggling and

they just like I don't know they go in a hole and they just hide out and that's just not how I've ever done it I've I've always been the guy that I'll just face it head on and if I go in there and I stub my toe and I and I mess it up I'll just get back in there as soon as I can and I'll do it again until I get it right over and over and over. And maybe that's, you know, in the past, maybe that's why I have had a couple times where I've lost two or three in a row. But that's how I deal with my problems, you know. I'll just keep running headfirst into a wall until I make it through it.

And maybe that's not always the best way to do it, but that's the best way I know how. And I just can't go hide out and just wait until everyone forgets about it and then hope that I can fix it. I just, I got to get right back to work and get right back to fixing it. I'll never be happy. I'll never be able to just sit and hang out. I've never been the type of guy to lose a fight and then, and then take time off. If I ever have taken time off, it's always been off of a win because there's no way I'd be able to take any, it wouldn't be a real break.

Maybe I wouldn't be doing anything or fighting, but I wouldn't have any mental, any mental breaks. That's for sure, because it would just eat me alive. So I'm just, I'm just happy that I was able to, to, to, to, to, to, to, I'm just happy. to prove something to myself that I still got it and that I'm still a contender. It's not about proving everyone else wrong. It is nice to shove it in everybody's face. But that's not my goal ever. It's really, I do it to prove myself right that the things that I say are true.

Yeah. And I know Devin, Devon is a super tough guy. Trains at a great camp, obviously, you know, a regular training partner is John Jones, coming off a couple of big wins of his own. And typically the only guys that have beaten him have been, like the really good guys of the division, you know, and there's no shame in that, you know, any, you know, any way, shape, or form to lose to some of the best guys in the division, like Jan Blahovich, who was obviously champion, things like that.

So to go out there, and once again, it's so funny, people always underrate your ground game, but you go out there and pull out the, you know, a takedown, and then a first round submission. It's once, it's like, you got to prove everybody wrong in one, two minute, and 34-second performance. You cut out for a second. What was the last part? I said, I said, you kind of got to prove everybody wrong. wrong with one two minute and 34 second performance you know i don't know when people are going to stop sleeping on my ground game i don't know like i thought it was it's almost comical to listen to

devon clark and his in his pre-fight thing like the build up at right before we do the walk that he was going to take me down and smash me on the ground and and and finish me in the first round like who the fuck does that like when's the last time that shit happens you know like you'd have to go back to shit 2012 to see me even get dominated on the ground like like that. Like I'm not saying I haven't been held down and controlled and and and you know again stub my toe with some of these bigger stronger guys but as far as taking me down and just smashing me like that's not going to happen. So I don't even you know it's like he's delusional but I understand that he's got to say those things and he's got to try to believe that so I guess I do

I do get that a little bit but it does feel good to you know I I I keep saying this but I hear the whispers you know I hear the you know where's the at mentally where's his head? at, you know, he hasn't been the same since the break-in. Is he healthy? Is he coming back too soon? Is he physically where he needs to be? Like, it's just nice to come out and, you know, and just put on a performance that answers all of those questions, not only myself, but to the people that support me, I think that

that's more important than really the doubters or the haters, you know? I don't really care too much about those people, but it's really about the people that have always really stuck with me. I know that those people had those same questions. And that's the only reason that I brought it up leading up to the fight. I want the people that actually care about me and want me to be successful and then, you know, supporting me for the long haul. I wanted them to know that I did the things I needed to do to get myself right.

And it was nice to go in there and give those people a good performance so that, you know, they don't have those questions anymore, you know? Yeah, absolutely. to that point, you know, getting a win like that and kind of capping up. Now, I'm saying capping out of the year because knowing you, you'll end up, you know, signing on to fight, you know, comes out to Maev in three weeks. But hypothetically, if your year is over in terms of competition, I asked you before the fight, I said, you know, can you kind of give us an idea what this year has been like?

Because you've gone through so much with the pandemic and the home invasion, the two fights and everything going on, to kind of cap things off with the win this way and kind of, you know, silence the doubter. get back on track, get a bonus, all those kind of good things. Now that we're, assuming we're done with the competitive year, can you kind of encapsulate this year for yourself now that you kind of cap it off

with a positive exclamation point, so to speak? Man, it's been really tough, man. It just seems like, and again, I don't want to pretend like my struggles are any worse than the rest of the world because, you know, the rest of the world's struggling too. But personally, it's been really tough. You know, it's like one,

one struggle after another, you know. And it started kind of with the gust of thing, you know, like had an incredible performance that I was really proud of. And then, you know, I break my hand really bad and I have to end up having a second surgery and then they have leg to help fix my hand. Like, when does that happen? I didn't even know that was a thing.

But, you know, it took a lot longer than we thought it was going to to get back. And, you know, as I'm getting ready for that, the pandemic hits, and then stuff at the house. And then the fight obviously goes awful. And I rushed right back to try to write that ship. And obviously, I didn't go my way. And, you know, even this training camp was tough, man. You know, like my family got COVID.

I was out of the gym. You know, three weeks ago I was out of the gym for a week and a half because my family. had COVID. So then my, you know, my two corners that have been with me since 2008 test is positive on their pre-departure COVID test. So the first time I haven't had those guys with me since 2008, um, it's, I don't know, man. I just, just try to put my head down and grind forward, but it was a really tough year. Um, and I hope that my competitive year is over. That's for sure, but I'm not looking for, I'm not trying to jump right, but I'm not trying to jump in right now. Um, that's for sure. But I think that it kind of just encapsulates what my entire career has been like.

Like it's all struggle, but at the end, I always find a way. I always have, you know. That goes back to when me and my wife were not, when she wasn't my wife, and we were just dating and we had young kids, and, you know, we didn't know how we were going to pay our rent, and we had no money, and it didn't know if I was going to make it. But it was like I told her that since the beginning of our relationship. Like, I'll find a way.

I always find a way. I always figure it out. And I think that this year is kind of the same thing. I just, no matter what, like I'll, God damn it, I'll fucking figure it out,

you know? Like, I'll make it work. And that's just kind of how I feel. Like, it's a gratifying feeling of, like, again,

like proving yourself right. Like, you don't always know if you're going to figure it out. But God damn, you got to tell yourself that. And again, you know,

once again, all these years later, I always find a way. Yeah, absolutely. Let me ask a follow up to that in the COVID stuff. Did you end up getting COVID and is the family okay? I assume they're okay now, but I got to ask that question.

No, everybody's okay. Everybody's okay. Okay. And did you avoid it? Did you avoid it? They're all that? Because that's the weird thing about this disease. You hear about, like, everyone gets it but one person.

So did you actually avoid it? I did. Crazy. Crazy. One thing I wanted to mention, I'm sure this was brought up to you afterwards. I remember, you know, when you left the UFC, fought your way back to the UFC, and then, you know, kind of the run you've been on these last couple of years, you know, making it all the way to the title, I'm sure you realize there's somebody told you,

this was your seventh consecutive main event on Saturday night. I know this one was kind of weird circumstances, but still, seven main events in a row. When you left the UFC and were working your way back, did you ever imagine you'd be main eventing seven UFC cards in a row? No, I have never even, I don't know, man. Even hearing you say it again is crazy to me. I'm just a small town kid from Nebraska.

You know, it's just that's something I could have never imagined. Like I've always imagined being a world champion and fighting for titles and stuff, but seven straight main events is something that I never even considered, you know. I think I'm not 100% sure, but from what I understand, I think I'm the only non-champian to ever headline seven consecutive

main events. I think Korean zombie had six, but I think I'm the only non-champion to ever do that, which is kind of crazy to hold that kind of a record or have that kind of a staff. Yeah, absolutely. You should be proud of that. I mean, like I said, that's... I also have no idea that it was my 50th fight. Yes, that's kind of crazy too, right? You lose. track with 50 fights. That's pretty impressive. A lot of guys don't make it to 20

fights, much less 50 fights. I know. It's crazy. Unfortunately, it's kind of a cool stat. I had more losses than Devin has fights. Which is kind of crazy. Now, you mentioned before the fight, you know, because you said after the last one, and you kind of talked about that during Media Day when you said, you know, about the possibility of going back to middleweight or fighting a light heavyweight, and you said, obviously in the end, you stayed in light heavyweight, you put on a little bit more size. actually mentioned you had to cut weight for this one. So I know the answer, but it sounds like light heavyweight is going to remain your future.

Are you planning on, you know, changing things, adding some balls? Like what is the plan in terms of your light heavyweight future? Yeah, you know, I'd like to, you know, I'd like to put on, I don't know, maybe five or so more pounds would be, of lean mass would be nice. And just get a little bit bigger, keep getting stronger. But yeah, I'm going to stay a light heavyweight. one of the best things and worst things about me, I think when it comes to the media and talking to you guys is that I tell you exactly what I'm thinking,

when I'm thinking it. So when I brought up the middleweight thing, you know, I think I was just a thought in my head at the time. Once I got home and actually sat down and thought about it, I realized that that was the worst idea I've ever come up with. So it was just a thought at the time. But, yeah, I mean, light-heavy wood is definitely where I'm going to say.

At this point, at my age and where I'm at my career, I just going down the way class is definitely not going to be beneficial, that's for sure. Yeah, yeah. Now, with that being said, you know, right after the fight, I know you mentioned, you know, Paul Craig is the possible opponent. I'm sure you saw Jim Kruitt was talking about, you know, possibly stepping up and facing you. I know you're a guy who's never really, you know, cared much about, you know, opponents or things like that.

You just kind of take what's in front of you and you're always willing to fight the guys other people aren't. So is that kind of the attitude for the country? back in 2021. I mean, I know you mentioned Paul Craig on Saturday night. Again, I mentioned Jim Kruitt was asking on Twitter. I'm sure there's going to be other options out there as well. I mean, we got, you know, obviously a lot of cars between now and when you'll fight again. So can I imagine that's kind of the idea, like whoever's out there or do you have, like, is that Craig fight kind of the one you get your mind on or what? Um, you know, that was just the one that popped in my head just because my, you know,

my coach had mentioned him and my coach liked that matchup. And, and obviously, you know, he's already, you know, he tweeted, I think, yesterday that, you know, he wanted to fight. And so, I mean, I like that fighting. And honestly, I mean, I'm enjoying fighting people that, like, I enjoy watching, if that makes me sense. Like, I've always liked watching Devin's fight. Like, I can't tell you how many times he's come on and we've been watching the fights, you know, as a family. And I've always said, like, I like watching that guy's fight. Like, he's got a lot of heart. He gets in some real ugly knockdown, dragout fights. So it was fun to be able to fight that guy. And I like watching Paul Craig's fight as well.

I like his jiu-jitsu style. I like how he pushes forward. His interviews are funny. So, you know, I don't really know. And I like Jimmy Cruz, too. You know, he's always been super respectful. You know, we kind of tweeted back and forth a couple times after each one of us have fought.

You know, I don't really care. It's really more about the timing to me than really the opponent. I like that kind of February, March timeline. That's kind of really all I'm focused on. fucking time. Yeah, yeah. Now, you mentioned before the fight, do you kind of change things up a little bit for this camp? Obviously, one of the benefits of being out there and being such a public fighter is you do get other

opportunities. You got your serious X-M show, of course, you've been doing the analysis, which we've talked about in the past. You do a phenomenal job with that, but you kind of cut everything out for this fight camp, but just kind of focused on the camp. I know it's kind of, again, reactionary to say, well, that worked this time, so it's going to work every time. but do you feel like maybe that is a little bit closer of a plan for what you want to do going for?

Because it is possible. I mean, no one realizes it, but yeah, it's absolutely possible to spread yourself too thin depending on what you got going on. And I think that that's what I did. I think I just had too many coals in the fire. And, you know, there's a lot of guys that do both things and can't do them at the same time. Like D.C. doesn't do any, and he doesn't work when he has a fight coming up. Paul Feldor, for the most part, doesn't do any, you know, doesn't take any broadcasting gigs when he's got a fight coming up. You know, I thought maybe I could do it both, but I just couldn't, you know.

It's too much traveling. It's too much time away from home. I'm already away from home. Series X-M has been crazy cool about letting me cut my show down to an hour or completely not doing it on weeks that I'm busy or I'm tired or I'm just worn out and need a break. And again, as I get a little bit older, I need to spend more time on resting. and recovering and just kind of relaxing my mind and taking those breaks instead of just trying to do so much. So I love doing the analyst stuff.

I really do. And I'm, you know, I got two analyst gigs coming up already. I'll be there middle of, middle of December, and then another one in February. So I just think that I'm going to have to back out of those when I have, when I have a fight coming up. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like I said, the reality is you can, you know, you can, as you mentioned,

too many colds in the fire and it can't come back to burn you so to speak so obviously you got to focus on whatever's right in front of you and obviously right now you know fighting is what's most important outside of your family so that's got to take precedent yeah absolutely and some of it is kind of how I came up in the game like I I remember back when I would have killed for an opportunity for for just an interview with you you know like when when no one cared about me so I had a really hard time saying no because I remember those times when I when no one wanted me for anything

even for just a typical interview so I never say no to anything because I just it's like I'm afraid that those opportunities are going to go away if I don't take advantage of every single one but I just had to realize like I can't I can't do it all

you know I can I I just I can't handle it all and focus on a fight at the same time and just got to keep fighting the main thing and the main focus and then do what I can outside of that. Yeah, absolutely. So you mentioned, obviously, enjoy the holidays. You got the holidays coming up.

I'm sure the kids are going to go crazy for that. And then you say February, March, it would be a good timeline for your return. Yeah, yeah, I think so. You know, March, late March, hopefully, ideally. Absolutely. Well, Anthony, you know, I know we talk, we talk, you know, before and after wins.

before and after losses. You know, that doesn't matter as much. I just always like and, you know, enjoy having conversations with you. But, man, like I said, it was good to see you go out there and do your thing. And like I said, you couldn't have written a better script to get back on track than to submit a guy inside the first round to kind of, you know, answer the questions and get yourself back in the wind column. And kind of cap off what I know has been a really, really stressful year for you.

I mean, like I said, I think, you know, going through a home invasion would be that. That would be the story of a D year for most people. I mean, that would be it. You only have to go through that one time, and that would be all you can deal with for an entire year. You dealt with that, three fights, a pandemic. I mean, you went through a lot this year, man. You wrote a book on your career and this year alone.

Yeah, it's been nuts, man. But, you know, again, my family's tough. We're tough, man. You know, hopefully some of my toughness is rubbed off on them, but I would imagine that's probably the other way around. If it wasn't for them, there's no way I would have been able to make it through all this. Yeah. So congratulations again on the amazing win man.

Obviously enjoy the holidays with the family. Look forward to seeing you back in the analyst booth here in December. And thank you, as always, for taking the time for me. You know, I appreciate it. No, thanks a lot, man. I appreciate it. You guys stay safe and happy holiday. Hey, you as well.

We'll talk soon, buddy. Later, bro. Bye-bye. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.