Anthony Smith is at a crossroads in his career/
Smith competed in the main event of UFC Vegas 8, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Aleksandar Rakic.This was the second straight loss for Smith who admits that some big decisions must be made regarding his professional MMA career.
“I’ve never been one of the guys that’s out here pining and calling for more weight classes, but in these last couple of fights that’s kind of where my brain goes,” Smith said on the UFC Vegas 8 post-fight show (via Simon Samano of MMA Junkie). “I’m just too big for 185, and you start getting into these bigger, stronger, taller, longer guys. They’re just so strong... I think I got some big decisions to make in my career and figure out where we go from here. It’s super frustrating to lose to a guy you feel you can beat.”
One move that Smith says that he could make is to return to middleweight, which is a division the fighter hasn’t competed at since February of 2018. Smith says a move back to middleweight would affect both his professional MMA career and lifestyle as a whole.
“I don’t know. (One hundred and eighty-five pounds) is still really tough,” Smith said. “It’s a total lifestyle change, and that’s year-round. It’s not like one of those things where I can get into camp and change my diet and cut down. It’s a complete lifestyle change. I guess that’s one of the options. I guess the other option is to take some time off and get bigger. I don’t know. I’ve got some things to decide on.”
The fighter is still ranked in the top five of the UFC light heavyweight division, but that will change when the new rankings are released next week.
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