Anthony Smith explains surprising weight miss as backup fighter at UFC 283
UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith explained his surprising weight miss as the backup fighter at UFC 283.
Just in case anything happened to Jamahal Hill or Glover Teixeira ahead of their vacant UFC light heavyweight title fight at UFC 283, the promotion got Smith to sign on as the backup fighter as insurance. The good news is that both Hill and Teixeira made it to the fight, so Smith was not needed. The bad news is that Smith missed weight, which would have created extra controversy had he actually been used in the title fight, which Hill ended up winning by decision.
Smith stepped onto the scale at 209lbs, and then weighed in a second time at 206.5lbs, officially missing weight as the backup fighter, which came as a big surprise to many fans and media. Speaking on the Believe You Me podcast, Smith explained what went wrong.
“It wasn’t for a lack of effort. It wasn’t for lack of effort. I spent 48 straight hours cutting weight. It wasn’t a lack of effort. No one saw me on the scale looking like I had an additional 20 pounds to lose. I got close, but it wasn’t close enough, and it’ll never happen again,” Smith said (via MMAjunkie.com).
Ultimately, Smith takes complete blame for missing weight, and he said that he will accept any sort of criticism that comes his way as a result of his missing weight.
“I’ve been an absolute a**hole about people missing weight. You have one job: You have to show up on weight. That’s the easiest part of the job. I stand by everything I’ve said about everyone else. You have to make weight. That is not an option. I’ll accept whatever sh*t is coming my way. It doesn’t change my perspective on anything,” Smith said.
Despite the weight miss, Smith remains one of the top contenders at 205lbs, and he figures to get a top-five ranked opponent the next time we see him in the Octagon.
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