Ahead of their showdown at UFC Vegas 37, Ryan Spann has had some aggressive comments for Anthony Smith. However it is safe to say that Lionheart is not intimidated by what Ryan has said.
The UFC is off this weekend, but the next time the Octagon is open for business, there will be a light heavyweight showdown between Smith and Spann in the main event. While there seemingly was no bad blood between the two heading into the contest, Ryan was seen coming across very aggressively in a promo video for the promotion.
It seems that Anthony did not take too kindly to this attitude, as he made clear while speaking on the MMA Hour. Here he said that he personally had no beef with Ryan, but that was equally not intimidated by Ryan trying to sound tough with the UFC promos.
“I don’t know, what a nerd. I just laughed at it the whole time, like what are you so mad about? He sounds a lot like he’s trying to convince himself,” Smith said.
“Listen, I don’t want to take this too deep, because there’s no beef there. I definitely don’t have his respect, which is fine, I will next Saturday night, and I promise you that, but he’s not scary to me because he’s big, strong, and black. He’s like every single cousin I have on my dad’s side, like it’s not intimidating to me. Maybe he’s not used to that, but big black scary guys don’t make me nervous.”
Anthony Smith Is Not Concerned
Over the course of his career, Anthony Smith has been in the Octagon with some of the best fighters of all time. While he has had a tough run of late, he has gotten back on track with two straight wins, and looks to make it a third when he faces Ryan Spann.
That being said, he knows that Spann is not to the same caliber of foes that he has faced in the past. Anthony says that there is nothing that Spann offers, which he sees as a threat to him, or something he has never seen before.
“I know Ryan Spann takes this as disrespect when I say there’s nothing that stands out about him, I don’t mean that (disrespectfully). I’m not saying he’s not good,” Smith said.
“I’m just saying he’s not an Olympic medalist wrestler, he’s not a multiple-time world champion grappler, he’s not 150-1 as a kickboxer. He doesn’t do one thing overly better than the rest of his skills. So I don’t have to worry about s—t when I’m in training camp. We just have to go in and we evaluate the places that he’s dangerous, and then I just try to sharpen my sword the best that I can. That’s the best part about this.”
Anthony Smith will have the chance to make Ryan Spann respect him when they face off next weekend, at UFC Vegas 37. It will be interesting to see how he does, and if he can get a third win in a row.
