Anthony
Smith believes he needs to alter his approach following a
recent loss to Khalil
Rountree at
UFC Fight Night 233 in December.
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Smith (37-19) stepped up on 10 days’ notice to face Rountree (13-5)
in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 233 after Azamat
Murzakanov was forced out of his original meeting with the
Tiger Muay Thai representative on Dec. 2 due to pneumonia.
On a four-fight win streak, Rountree managed to land with more
authority in the first two rounds, even hurting Smith during an
exchange in Round 2. Ultimately, “The War Horse” landed a crisp
uppercut followed by a left hook in the opening minute of the third
round that sent “Lionheart” crashing to the canvas. Smith is now
1-3 in his last four Octagon outings.
Having had the time to reflect on the loss over the holidays,
“Lionheart” admitted that taking a short-notice fight against a
ferocious adversary such as Rountree was perhaps not the best idea.
Moreover, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran believes Rountree Jr.
being a Southpaw didn’t help either, as he didn’t have the adequate
amount of time to prepare for the nuance.
“I knew he was going to be fast, but it was shocking how fast he
is, how he goes from zero to 100 so fast,” Smith told Michael
Bisping on the “Believe You Me” podcast. “So, I struggled with
the speed in the fight, I didn’t really have any other options. I
wasn’t seeing the left hand; he was faster than I was, and he was
faster than I was prepared for. Some of that is I wasn’t in fight
shape. I was seeing things, but my body just wasn’t reacting fast
enough because I haven’t been in camp. That’s no excuse. That’s my
fault, I put myself in that position and I knew that was a
possibility.”
Smith now believes he needs to alter his formula. For starters, the
former title contender agreed with Bisping’s suggestion not to take
short-notice fights unless it’s for the title. Moreover, the
35-year-old plans to take each fight one at a time instead of being
fixated on a championship.
“I think I came to the conclusion that I still like fighting and I
still want to do it. There’s some things that need to change
though. Not just in my game and style. I had a conversation with
Glover [Teixeira] that I think really helped a lot. Just as we age,
you have to change some things. It’s not that you have to quit
fighting, it’s not like, ‘I’m not as good here, I’ve not progressed
here,’ but there’s some things that you’re already good at that you
can continue to really shape your game around and just change it a
little bit. I also think maybe I need to stop being so focused on
the end goal so much. Maybe I just need to take it one at a time
and just face whatever challenge is in front of me and stop—not
that I’m looking past people or looking too far ahead—but
everything I have wrapped into this fighting thing is about the
title. Maybe when I stop being so concerned about the title, maybe
I can fully focus on what’s in front of me.”