Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was disappointed to see his friend and fellow podcaster, Anthony Smith come up short in his return to the Octagon on Saturday night.
After suffering back-to-back losses against Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker, ‘Lionheart’ appeared to get things back on track with an impressive showing against Ryan Spann in August. Unfortunately, Smith was unable to build on that momentum against light heavyweight knockout artist Khalil Rountree.
Going into the contest with Smith, Rountree was riding a four-fight win streak with three of those victories coming by way of knockout.
Watching the events unfold in real-time, Bisping offered his reaction moments after ‘Lionheart’ hit the canvas.
“That’s the f*cking game,” Bisping said on his Believe You Me podcast. “You dare to be great. I don’t want to say it, but I didn’t like this from the day I found out about it. I thought it was… I didn’t like it at all, but Khalil looked good, you’ve got to give it to him. He’s a nice guy. A class act. You can’t sit here and sh*t on him. He looked good.
“It’s a brutal sport. People see fighters that they care about. Fighters that they care about lose fights all the time and that’s it, you know what I mean. Two men step in there. Two men or two women and 50% go home losers and that’s the hard thing.”
Khalil Rountree is the most violent man in the UFC 🔥 https://t.co/UPfbkYIE2c
— Ben Davis (@BenTheBaneDavis) December 10, 2023
Michael Bisping Praises Khalil Rountree’s Game Plan
Anthony Smith came out aggressive and stayed that way despite the impressive counter-attack of Rountree, but ‘Lionheart’ ultimately paid the price less than a minute into round three when Smith moved in and ‘The War Horse’ uncorked a nasty uppercut that sent Smith stumbling backward across the cage. Smith hit the canvas and Rountree approached with his hand raised, ready to drop another bomb on his downed opponent.
Luckily, the referee recognized that Smith was all, but out and chose to stop the bout before any more damage could be done.
“It’s that lead right hand of Khalil’s is beautiful,” Bisping added. “He was threatening the right hook all night and then it was the uppercut. It was a beautiful shot, to be fair. F*ck. That was a shame, but it is what it is. You live to fight another day. That’s how the game goes.”
Anthony Smith has now lost three of his last four inside the Octagon and is 12-9 under the UFC banner overall.
Rountree, on the other hand, is now on a five-fight win streak and should find himself firmly in the light heavyweight top ten following his impressive performance inside The APEX.
Watch the full video below:
