Credit: MMANytt
Anthony Smith explains why he wants Thiago Santos rematch
Anthony Smith is interested in running things back with Thiago Santos.
Back at UFC Fight Night 125, Smith went into hostile territory to fight the Brazilian in Santos in Belem, Brazil. It was an interesting scrap but in the end, it was Santos who won by second-round TKO. After the loss, “Lionheart” moved up in weight, while “Marreta” moved up shortly after.
Since both of them moved up to 205 pounds, they have both gotten title shots but lost to Jon Jones. They are still both in the mix so Smith says a rematch makes sense.
“When I got cut from the UFC back in 2013 my first fight outside of the UFC was Josh Neer,” Smith said to the media. “It was a catchweight of 175 in the main event of BFC in Ohio. Josh Neer finished me in the fourth round. I changed a whole lot of things (after), I focused on getting better, and I change my mindset. I won eight in a row to get back to the UFC. And, on the eighth fight I finished Josh Neer in under a minute (in the rematch).
“That’s how my brain works. I’ll come back to that. I had the fight, and it went the way it went with Thiago, but I know that I’m better than that, and I know that I can beat him. I know that’s what the fans want to see. I’ll circle back to that. After that fight I changed a lot of things, and I got better, and I focused on a lot, and I changed my mindset, and we’ll circle back to that, and it’ll be my next Josh Neer moment.”
For Anthony Smith, he knows he could beat Thiago Santos, which is why he wants the rematch. He also thinks it makes sense if he beats Glover Teixeira on Wednesday and have that the Brazilian’s return fight after injury.
“I guess to everyone else Thiago is the two-headed, fire-breathing dragon, but Thiago is like my mirror kind of,” Smith said. “I keep that tweet there because that was one of the lowest moments of my career. I’m better than that. There’s circumstances and sometimes things just don’t go your way. It just doesn’t. The cards fall in the other direction. But that’s absolutely a fight that I want, and that’s absolutely a fight that I don’t think anyone else is asking for.”
