Anthony Smith, a fighter in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is overjoyed with Jon Jones’ dominant performance against Cyril Gane in the heavyweight main event battle of UFC 285.
Jon Jones fought for the first time in almost three years on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Yet, his extended absence had little influence on his performance in the cage, as he finished his French opponent like a roaring lion, looking stronger, bigger, and more unyielding than ever.
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Jon Jones is back at the top! âď¸ pic.twitter.com/tbaCXQ7UbY
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) March 7, 2023
The mixed martial arts (MMA) world applauded Jones for his dominant victory over Gane, who is presently regarded as the number one heavyweight fighter. As soon as the fight was over, a lot of people started referring him to as the greatest of all time.
Anthony Smith shared his thoughts on Jon Jones’s victory with The MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani during an interview.
âI was blown away that he did it the way that he did it. I think I said this in all the pre-shows and any kind of breakdown that I gave, if Jon ended up getting it to the ground, it was going to be fairly one-way traffic. I did expect it to be competitive on the feet for a while. I thought the striking exchanges were going to be close. Credit to Jon and what he does, he made sure that that wasnât the case.â said Smith.
Just the way Smith expressed his opinion, Jon Jones too, in response to a question about how he intended to defeat Gane, expressed that he had one strategy which is to bring Gane down to the ground. Bones was able to defeat Cyril in just two minutes of the opening round by using a guillotine choke.
Smith, who previously faced off against Jones in 2019 at UFC 235 and was defeated by Jones through a unanimous decision, expressed plenty of thoughts regarding Jon’s next career move.
Even though Jones is back in the UFC only because Francis Zavier Ngannou left the promotion earlier in January but Smith also expressed that if Jones could face The Predator, then what would be the result now?
âJon would 50-45 Francis without a mark on his face. If [Jones] looks anywhere close to as good as he looked on Saturday, on his feet as well, I think heâs too dynamic and too diverse on his feet. Iâve always said that and people think Iâm absolutely crazy, but I think he sticks him and picks at him from the outside. Grinds him on the fence. I think he wins every wrestling exchange.” Smith further added.
Anthony Smith feels Stipe Miocic is a tougher fight for Jon Jones than Francis Ngannou đ #TheMMAHour
âJon would 50-45 Francis without a mark on his face."
âśď¸ https://t.co/03YWWKJdn9 pic.twitter.com/A6dAiYyuTc
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) March 6, 2023
Lionheart thinks aside from Francis catching him, which is kind of what Francis does, the light heavyweight fighter just does not see how Francis wins that fight.