Anthony Smith Ponders Next Weight Class Move: ‘I’ve Got Some Big Decisions to Make’

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Anthony Smith never seemed further removed from his days as a top light heavyweight contender than he did at UFC Fight Night 175.

The former title challenger was largely overwhelmed by Aleksandar Rakic in Saturday’s three-round headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas en route to losing a clear-cut unanimous decision. Rakic battered “Lionheart” with low kicks, and when Smith attempted to initiate grappling exchanges, the Austrian stifled his opponent from top position while staying busy with ground-and-pound. The end result was a bout in which Smith, while he didn’t feel out of his depth, was rarely able to threaten a more powerful opponent.

“The first round I stayed in kicking range at the beginning, which is obviously stupid now. He beat up my lead leg. Then we got in our clinch and grappling exchanges, which I felt OK in,” Smith said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “He was so strong; he’s so big. So I just ended up in some bad spots. It wasn’t really even bad spots, he was just so tight on top. I couldn’t make any space. I guess my biggest takeaway was that he was so big and so strong.”

Rakic’s leg kicks were especially prevalent in Round 1, when he sent Smith tumbling to the canvas and momentarily appeared to be on the verge of a finish when he began unloading with punches to the body from above after dropping his foe. Smith acknowledged that the kicks were a factor, but says he recovered relatively quickly. It was simply the size and strength of Rakic that proved to be too much to overcome.

“In the first round it definitely affected me. He caught me with the last one that made me stumble. I was kicking at the same time, so all my weight was on that leg and it kind of put me to the ground,” Smith said. “Right away I feel like I recovered quick, I got to the clinch positions. I did everything I wanted to do in those positions, I just wasn’t able to finish some of them.

“I got to the clinch aginst the cage, I was able to get to his legs. It was just when I turned to return him to the mat, I don’t know, he was so strong and I couldn’t get him bent over at the waist to get his weight on his hands. That’s just what I keep going back to: I just felt like we’re in two different weight classes.”

Smith began his UFC tenure as a middleweight, but it wasn’t until he moved up to 205 pounds that he experienced his greatest success, earning a title shot after finishes of Rashad Evans, Mauricio Rua and Volkan Oezdemir. The 32-year-old wasn’t especially competitive against then champion Jon Jones, however, and back-to-back lopsided defeats against Rakic and Glover Teixeira in 2020 have him wondering if there’s a new direction he should take.

“I’ve never been one of the guys that is out here pining and calling for more weight classes, but in my last couple fights it’s where my brain goes. I’m just too big for 185,” he said. “You start getting to these bigger, stronger, taller, longer guys — they’re just so strong.

“He [Rakic] wasn’t passing my guard. He wasn’t putting me in danger on the ground,” Smith continued. “I just couldn’t get up and I couldn’t get his hands apart. I couldn’t get his head off my chest to make any space to do anything. He wasn’t really offensive. I even was releasing posture on his head to hope he would posture up to try to punch so I could at least make some space to get up. He fought a great game plan. He did everything he had to do to win. He did a great job.”

No new weight classes appear to be on the horizon in the UFC, so Smith is left to contemplate whether to adopt the extreme changes necessary to return to 185 pounds or to try and get bigger and stronger to better combat the Aleksandar Rakics of the world. In the aftermath of a disappointing defeat, neither seems to be an obvious move.

“I think I’ve got some big decisions to make in my career and figure out where we go from here,” he said. “It’s super frustrating to lose to a guy that you feel like you can beat. Once I got inside of the kicking range, I didn’t feel like he was outboxing me. Second round on as far as striking went, I felt fine once I adjusted the range. I got to the clinch like I wanted to. I got to his body. I wasn’t able to finish a lot of those spots.

“185 is still really tough. It’s a total lifestyle change and it’s year round. It’s not one of those things where I can just get into camp and change my diet and cut down. It’s a complete lifestyle change. I guess that’s one of the options. I guess the other option is to take some time off and get bigger. I don’t know. I’ve got some things to decide on.”