The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Daniel Cormier TV - Anthony Smith DOUBLES DOWN on Alex Pereira criticism

Episode Date: May 4, 2024

Anthony Smith joins Daniel Cormier in his newest edition of the DC Check-In, and he had plenty to say on the king of light heavyweight division, Alex Pereira. Plus, why Smith thinks he’s one fight away from a shot at the title. Smith admits that he’s still embarrassed after getting knocked out in his last fight. And don’t miss what the star thinks of Jose Aldo’s return to the UFC! #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Guys, I'm checking in with the boy Anthony Smith. Anthony Smith fights Vitor Petrino this weekend at UFC 301. My guy, thank you for checking in with me. Yeah. How you doing out here in Brazil? When did you get her? This morning. Oh, so you just traveled in?

I just got here. No, no acclamation, no need to. No, man, that's made up shit. You think so? Yeah, that is not true. That's made up. Maybe here because it's not at sea, like below sea level or above sea level, but I saw King Velasquez get tired against Fabrice over it.

Yeah, but that's altitude. There's no altitude here. And I train at altitude. Yes, so yeah, I guess you're fine. Yeah. And I've spent, I got 55 fights. I've spent over a year of my life in Fight Week. Yeah.

So I'm just chilling. And you still love this shit? I love the fight for sure. Don't love the camp? Not all the time. This one I had a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun this training camp. I think is my mindset change a little bit

after the Khalil fight? So I had a lot of fun this training camp. camp you know going back to that fight when it when it when the fight ends like that like what is because I've been knocked out right I've been knocked out once and you go home and I think the first thought is embarrassment a little bit yeah how long did it take to get over that because for me it took a while I was going for seven months it's still there really yeah it's embarrassing I've never had that happen to me ever um and I'm just mad at myself for the the decision-making you know like I just can't say no I don't

know why I didn't train one time from the really yeah because when I fought Ryan Span in August yep I told everyone after that I'm taking a break I need a break I need to hang with my kids I just need to be a dad and just chill and then this fight pops up I hadn't trained one time from there to there and I was like fuck it let's do it how long how long before you got the fight like 10 days geez so then you're just like rushing it's just weight cut yeah most of it yeah most of it

you can be a big boy yeah yeah I was 235 2 37 something like that when I stepped on the scale when they called so there must be a massive difference in that and in the feeling you have this week actually having the ability to train yeah I feel really good

and so that's why I wasn't willing to make any kind of decisions on my career following the cleo fight because I knew I wasn't ready for the cleo fight could I clip him and maybe get a takedown and dominate the grappling, maybe. But I knew what the positive side of that was if I was able to get a win like that.

I just slid right into a title shot, maybe right after Jamal and whatever they worked out their deal. But now I'm back a little bit now. So when we lose in that way, especially people that have been the top of the game for a long time, it gives the kids a little bit of pepany step. they start calling your name. Yeah.

And this dude called the name a little bit. This dude called you out. Yeah, yeah. You think this dude called you all because he saw that and was like, wait a minute, I can do that I can beat him. 100%. Swear to God. That's the only reason.

That's the only reason. You think that kid would call me out after I beat Gus? Not a chance. No. Not a chance. Or even the fight against Ryan Span. Right. Not a chance.

So like Bogdan did it right before then too. Like, not for nothing. Ryan Span was walking him. walking him down. Your little brother? You're my twins? I thought you little brother fight last week.

I thought you little brother fight last week. I was like damn, though. And that kid's tough. But like he struggled with Ryan Span pretty bad there for a minute and Ryan Span does what Ryan Span does and kind of goes away a little bit.

But he's got to all the talent in the world and I walked right through that dude the first time. So I don't think that I think that they look at me as a broken, wounded lion. And that's not the case. That's not the case. But that kind of that,

it let a fire under you didn't it. When that kid called your name, I don't want to fight Anthony Smith. He wasn't in the locker room yet. And I told Mick Maynard, if he's ranked on Tuesday, I'll go to Brazil. Really? 100%. And now he ain't ranked because Bogdan got in the rankings and kicked him out. If he's ranked, I'll go to Brazil.

If he's ranked on Tuesday, I'll fight him in Brazil. Is he good? Is he as good as people are making him out to be? When you break him down? Nah. You're a guy that does this job like me, right? So when you're breaking him down, and I get it. When we're fighting someone, we tend to look for their weakness as opposed to.

to respecting what they actually can do. Is he as good as people have made this kid out to be? He is good. He's not as good. I guess pulling the curtain back a little bit. Like I worked in the event that he last fought on. So I broke all of his fights down and broke his game down, not even imagining that I was going to fight him any time soon.

That is. That's the best because I didn't put myself into it. You're not saying, oh, he's bad at this. He's bad at this. Right. So when I broke him down, Our job is to promote all these guys and promote these events and build them up and essentially make them out to be killers. And sometimes when you're watching the tape, you don't see the killer.

So you've got to find it. Like you've got to dig deep. He was the guy who had an incredible skill set. He's crazy explosive. But I didn't see a lot of depth to his game. I've seen a guy who's doing exactly what he should do to the people that he's fighting. There's a different level when you get to the top. when you're big and explosive and powerful,

you can get guys at the bottom to kind of retract a little bit, and they don't like the aggressiveness and the physicality of it. Guys at the top don't give a shit. You've got to have more depth to your game than that. Like, what happens when you're big and explosive, and I'm still walking forward? Like, we haven't seen anybody do that to him yet. I like Tyson Pedro as a person.

He fought like a scared little bitch in there the whole time. Like he didn't engage, he was circling, and I get it, the power. If you're not used to seeing it all the time, it's different. especially like a shorter stockier guy like that, it's different and like the speed change is different when he really goes. But I've seen that a billion times.

And so I think he is good. I think he's going to be around a long time. I don't think he's as good as he's being made out to be. But not today. You don't think, well, the kid, like you said, very explosive. He's really walked through dudes. But I think every fight has been a massive favorite. Right.

When you're a favorite, you're supposed to go get the job done. And if you have that belief of the undefeated fighter, He has no reason to not believe it. No one's giving him the reason to doubt anything that he does. And that's my job. It is to go out there and really take it from him right away and make him know immediately. Like, this is different than anybody else who've ever fought. You know, when I remember there was a time that we struggled a little bit.

And I started thinking to myself as we're talking about retirement, because that's what we do right from the outside. The guys that are talking about retirement, I'm like, man, I didn't want to, I didn't say, straight out because I didn't know if I believed it or not like it felt like the fight wasn't as strong with you and then all of a sudden it was just back what changed like or it maybe it just never was gone but it to the to our eyes on the outside it seemed like he doesn't necessarily want to do this as much as he used to because Anthony Smith looks different to me they did

when he was on his run but then all of a sudden even when you were having tough fights and tough moments you kept fighting and it seemed like All that fight that defined you before was back. So what changed? I think you'll understand this. Like when you get to a spot when you're doing so many other things, like fighting opens up a door for some people. And other people, they fight and then they're done fighting. And then if they didn't make enough money or get enough opportunities, then they have to go get regular job and do regular stuff.

Right. For some of us, it opens up other doors. And so you find yourself doing all these other things. and I think that I let it, I think I got spread too thin a little bit. And then personally, like my marriage is fine, my kids are good, but like personally inside, I think that I juggle so much and I wear so many different hats and I got a lot on my shoulders that I think it just becomes so exhausting. Like I was so tired.

Like I was just so tired emotionally and mentally. And I just wasn't managing my, I've been really outspoken about my mental health. Not that I'm a crazy person or anything, but I grew up. with a lot of trauma. I got a lot of bullshit going on. Some of it was around the time my mom died. I remember that's our conversation. I was a mess, but like fighting was the one thing I could control.

So when I shouldn't have been fighting, it was all I wanted to do was just dive in there. And then when I got in there, I just wasn't the same person. Yeah. And then as I started to manage that stuff and just deal with the BS in my own head, and then we start talking, people started talking about retirement, and I just couldn't imagine. Like, I'm not ready to retire.

Like I still really love this game. Sometimes I hate the bullshit around it, but I love the fighting, I love the training, I love the camaraderie, and I don't know what to do without it. So, and I'm still competitive. I'm still in there with the young guys in the gym and still fighting it out and getting the better of those rounds more times than not. So I think that I just had to get my own head right before I could get back. Be Lionheart. Yeah, before I could be that person again. Yeah.

It seemed like, it seemed weird. And I know that's a hard conversation with people around. talking about retirement, especially if it's not in your heart. Because the only way you can walk away is when it's in your heart to walk away. Like Jose Algo's back this weekend. Yeah. Right. And it seemed like it was in his heart to walk away.

It seemed right. It seemed right. It also seemed honestly, I told him this too earlier. I could at your Hall of Fame speech, it felt like you were complete and you were done with it. But, and I kind of got scared. I wanted to ask him this question, but I didn't do it, bro. What do you want to ask him? bro, I went to ask him like I fucking bust out.

I'm so mad about it. Oh, I went to ask him. So, dude, so Yusada now you don't have to sit six months. That's not a thing now. So he can just come back. He started talking in January, it's April, he's back. Right. You think that played a part of that?

I wonder, like, see, that's what I went to ask him that. That's a tough question to ask. Right? It's hard. Like, how do you ask him? I want to ask him so bad. Yeah, that's a tough one. Because he wouldn't have been able to fight if, uh...

No. That was still around. No, he wouldn't have. So, I mean, God, I should have asked him on. You know, I think that cowboy probably feels a little bit now, too. Like, now the Cowboys out of the pool, he looks so healthy and so happy. Look, yeah, cowboy tell you, he told me he told me he do steroids, right? He told me, though.

He asked to be. He said he do that, and he got some hair. He got his hair back. He looks good. Cowboys, the man, though, he's big and strong. He looks healthy. But he hurt himself riding the bull there. I've seen that, like, tore his bicep or something?

Yeah, he hurt himself riding the bull there. That's a problem, right? You start doing all that stuff. like Superman again, you can't be that. But, you know, the fight's back. And when you look at the light heavyweight division too, I feel me being a guy that was in the weight class, it's a good time to be in this division.

Because you're very, you're only a couple of fights away from being right back where you need to be because outside of Alex, right? There's a whole bunch of people that are essentially one fight away from fighting for the championship. Do you feel that? Yeah, but I'm also, it kind of goes into this mindset change.

Do you think when you were like chasing titles and wrestling and stuff like that, like did it blinded you and became a negative? Well, it's at times. You become so laser-focused. Well, you become so laser-focused. That's why, like, relationships and stuff suffer for me. Nothing really was good for me outside of my competitive career because I was so intent and focus and selfish because you have to be. And the problem is like, I think most have to be.

And if you don't want to be selfish like that, then you can keep everything around you happy. Right. But when you're chasing championships, it's like one or the other. It is the most selfish life ever. Yeah. Well, I think it's blinded me and hurt me in getting there. Because I think I, like, every time I'm getting ready to fight, like even now, I wouldn't typically be worried so much about Vitor Petrina. I'm like, all right, I've got to beat him.

And then I got to fight this guy. and then this guy's going to beat this guy, and then maybe I can fight him and I'll get in. And then if I lose and it's like, well, even after a Cleo fight, I didn't even think about the knockout or the loss, like the actual physical loss. I immediately thought,

fuck, how many fights are going to take to get back now? It was like the first thought. It was immediately about the title. Because that title fight is like nothing else, right? Nothing else. It's the greatest thing ever. Especially when you get one and it doesn't go the way you want it to go. And you feel like you didn't give your,

I think if I had gone in and fought John and felt like that was the best version of myself or that was the best I had. That was all I had to give. You could have won the belt that night. I think I could have lived with it. You know what I said. You could have won the belt, bro. You still, you still could have.

I know, but I wouldn't be in the position I'm in though. You're right. Yeah, you would. Maybe. Look at Aljo. Yeah, well, yeah, you're right. You're right. I love Aljo, but like the whole world don't.

My boy, I made some money don't hold that belt, though, because he's defending the belt. He defended a whole bunch of times. That's true. That's true. But I understand. I understand. Hey, before I let you go, you said something about Alex Pereira a couple weeks ago about his. I said the same shit you said.

I know. I said the same shit you said. But it was not an insult, but it was like kind of an insult or it was spun. It was fun for sure. What did you mean? What's part? Just the whole thing was like, well, he's got one thing. He does.

It's the best thing in the world. It is. And that's the thing. He is a fantastic striker, and he has molded that into his MMA game so beautifully. But, like, let's not pretend. Like, this dude is a fire grappler. He does not. What would you do to Alex Pereira? Go ahead.

He beat me, bro. Shut the fuck off. What do you mean? No, what do you mean? Stop. I would lose that, Lex Ferrer. He would knock me up. That's what you're saying?

Yeah. If that camera was off, what would you actually say? Don't stop, stop. Don't say that. Don't do that. I would lose. No, but like here's the deal. And I'm not even saying, like, when I talk about him, I'm not talking, like, people

can't separate me from being an analyst and a fighter. Well, I'm analyzing his game from just X's and O's and what I see in there. I don't understand how he keeps winning. And that's okay. That's okay. I'm not saying he's bad. And it just gets more and more impressive. Exactly.

And that was what I was doing. I was building him up saying, listen, like, he's not a great wrestler. He's good enough on the fence, for sure. But if he gets a guy in there that's ripping single legs and lift. in and like chaining them together. He's really strong though. I bet he's super strong. I grab him all the time and he's really, really strong. He's, I mean, he looks like it for sure. Yeah, he's really strong. It's not like he's a high level wrestling pedigree or like a high level jiu-jitsu game. Like, Jan Baloovich is a decent grappler and that dude took him down and took his back. Had

Jan Blovich not been at altitude and been out there longer or acclimated to it or trained at it, what does the second third round look like? Like, if he was able to do it fairly easily that entire four minutes of the first round. Like, that's not me saying I'm a fighter and I want to fight him and I'll beat him up. That's me saying like, listen, there's holes in his game and he's still finding ways to win. That's impressive as fuck. He has beat some really high level guys

with a very limited skill set. Like he's got a hole in a box that he has to stay in and he just does a great job of staying in it. Yeah. I think it's impressive and he gets offended by it, but I don't really care about it. Of course he does. I don't care about his feeling. He never said nothing. Of course he does.

How does he only got offended by it? Every media outlet he does ask him about me every time. And I don't care. I never said, he never get mad at me. That's what I'm saying. I say the same shit you said. It wasn't the same thing, actually. That's close.

I just said, I don't know how this guy keeps winning. Well, because they're wrestling, right? But then I started thinking about something, and Ben Asker told me this, and this is true. There aren't many crazy high-level wrestlers in the top five right now. There's not. Right. So it's like the right time. Right.

It's all time. Uncle I is the only guy. that wrestles like that. And he doesn't have the pedigree. It's not like he's a world champion. And like some of us were like he has he has the style. He's got the style for sure.

But yeah, it's an interesting thing because it's all about timing, right? It is. We're all of us. It's a great time for Alex and he's become a master star. I just think if there was a couple more wrestlers up there, he would be challenged for sure.

He would be challenged for sure. And I think I'm a big fan, man. I really am. I'm a huge fan. I love watching his game. It's striking. It's scary. Like, I seen him see, like what he's seen in Jamal, I watched him see it, which is so fascinating.

Like, every little lead hook and, you know, Jamal's hand would come down or he would go to throw that. Like, he adjusted to it so quickly. He saw him picking up, well, that's all that time that he's been kickboxing. Right. It's so crazy. So, but this weekend is about you and Vito Petrino. You get to go out there and shut the kid up. Yeah.

It's exciting. Yeah. It's exciting. Yeah. It's really exciting. What are you expecting from that arena when you hit there? you're going to die. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Have you ever fought here before? Twice. You like it? No, not really, but it's... I like Brazil. I don't necessarily like the fighting part of it. I like being here. I got to get a win here.

I've never won in Brazil. It's a big deal. Good time to start against the other feet of guy. Hell yeah. My man. Andrew Lyinghardt Smith fight this weekend at UFC 301 against Vitor Petrino. Guys, he's the man.

Tapping everything he's doing, follow him on all of his socials. Him and Bisving are on the podcast together now very often, which is fucked up. Because I asked you first. I asked you first, and you chose Bisbig to be my podcast guys. No, you did. I asked you. I asked him.

Why is he always lying? I asked you first. Anthony, thanks for checking in with me, man. I appreciate it, guys. Until next time, like, subscribe and tell you for the tell a friend D. D.C.'s guy YouTube channel. I had guys like Lionheart stopping in on me. Peace.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay And I'm Alex English

Each episode We pick a year unpack what went down And try to make sense of how we survived it With our friends Fellow comedians And favorite authors

Like Mark Lamont Hill On the 80s It was a wild year I don't think There's a more important year for black people Listen to look back at it On the IHeart Radio

app, Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts A win is a win A win A win is a win I don't care what you're saying Yep That's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.