Anthony Smith says his UFC 301 fight against Vitor Petrino doesn’t do anything for him.
Smith is set to return to the Octagon on the main card of UFC 301 against the undefeated Petrino after the Brazilian called him out following his last win. ‘Lionheart’ is coming off a TKO loss to Khalil Rountree as he is fighting down in the rankings and looking to return to the win column.
Although Smith is going into enemy territory to face Petrino at UFC 301, he claims beating the Brazilian doesn’t do anything for him. Instead, he says this is all about Petrino and his opportunity to become a top-10 light heavyweight.
“Oh, not s**t,” Anthony Smith said to ESPN about what a win over Petrino does for him at UFC 301. “This fight doesn’t do anything for me, this is his opportunity. This is me just coming in and doing my job, this isn’t about me versus Vitor Petrino, this isn’t me doing anything other than just taking it one fight at a time and he’s the challenge. He has a great skill set and does a lot of things well, I’m sure he has a great team behind him, but this is just me just plugging away, one at a time, it doesn’t realistically, the fight means nothing to me. It’s getting one back in the win column and it doesn’t matter if it’s him or anybody else.”
If Anthony Smith does beat Vitor Petrino at UFC 301, it would be a big win for him and allow him to fight someone up in the rankings as he tries to climb back up to a title shot. But, ‘Lionheart’ doesn’t think the fight does a whole lot for him, other than an opportunity to showcase his skills and get back in the win column.
Smith enters the fight as a sizeable underdog as he’s +425 as ‘Lionheart’ is 1-3 in his last four.