Anthony Smith doesn’t appreciate the way Alex Pereira responded to his recent observation.
Smith competes in the UFC light heavyweight division, as does former middleweight titleholder Alex Pereira. “Lionheart” recently shared his opinion that Pereira doesn’t have the same size advantage at 205 pounds that he did at 185 pounds. Smith was also complimentary of “Poatan,” but Pereira wasn’t having any of it.
The former UFC middleweight titleholder took to his YouTube channel to call Anthony Smith “bitter” and “washed up.” As one would imagine, “Lionheart” was none too pleased.
Anthony Smith woke up a different version of Alex Pereira pic.twitter.com/At0qYcw9Cx
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) August 28, 2023
Anthony Smith Rips Alex Pereira Over Recent Comments
During an episode of SiriusXM’s “MMA Today,” Anthony Smith admitted he’s confused about why Alex Pereira is ticked off.
“I’ll be honest, I text Glover [Teixeira] yesterday and said, ‘What in the f*ck is this?’ Trying to figure out which direction I’m supposed to go here,” Smith said. “Did he take something out of context? Is he reading headlines or did he actually listen to what I said? What I said was, essentially he’s the same size as everyone else. You think if I said Islam is the same size as every other lightweight he’s gonna come at me all pissed off about it? No. My whole point was that he moved up to 205, so he’s not gonna enjoy the same size advantage that he did at 185. That’s it.”
Smith isn’t backing down from “Poatan,” saying that if the Brazilian bruiser has a problem, then he’s created a new rivalry.
“I said a bunch of nice sh*t about you, and you’re gonna talk sh*t? I don’t think so. That’s not how this works, and then we’re just gonna shake hands when we see each other ’cause you’re doing this media thing ’cause you’re looking for a rival? If you’re looking for a f*cking rival, you got one right here. I didn’t do sh*t to you.”
"I've been nothing but complimentary of him and his whole team."
Anthony Smith (@lionheartasmith) responds to Alex Pereira's comments about him.
MMA Today | @RJcliffordMMA @DinThomas pic.twitter.com/D6YX87enFf
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) August 29, 2023
