Anthony Smith doesn’t see Luke Rockhold pulling off a miracle against Craig Jones.
The former UFC Middleweight Champion and Jones are set for a grappling match on September 21. Jones is renowned for his jiu-jitsu, having won two silver medals in the ADCC World Championship. Jones recently responded to word getting out of his match with Rockhold. He joked that this will be the first time two “dime pieces of this caliber” will have a grappling match.
Anthony Smith Dismisses Luke Rockhold’s Chances
During a recent episode of the “Believe You Me” podcast, Michael Bisping told Anthony Smith that he thinks Rockhold will do “alright” against Jones. Smith did not agree, saying, “He’s not,” before going into detail on his answer.
“Jiu-jitsu to MMA jiu-jitsu, it’s a different level,” Smith said. “I think Luke and I would be pretty competitive in jiu-jitsu. I think that we would have some fun rolls. Craig smokes me, it’s not even close. It’s like the difference between real world champion level professional ─ like what Tom [Aspinall] was talking about. Jiu-jitsu is a part of what MMA fighters do, but professional competitive jiu-jitsu is a different level. So, Luke will be ok for a little bit, but once Craig decides he’s done f*cking around, that’ll be it.”
Anthony Smith then mentioned Georges St-Pierre, a UFC Hall of Famer who is widely regarded as one of the GOATs, not wanting grappling matches with high-level jiu-jitsu players.
“Put it this way, I know that when GSP was talking about coming back to do the grappling thing, he specifically said no professional grapplers,” Smith said. “Not because he’s afraid to lose, but because he doesn’t want to get embarrassed. That’s GSP saying that. Like, no Gordon Ryan, no Nicky Rod, none of those guys.”
Smith noted that if he was in GSP’s shoes, he would take the same approach. He feels as an MMA fighter of GSP’s legendary status doesn’t need to have grappling matches against elite specialists who solely focus on that aspect of the art.
