Anthony Smith doesn’t agree with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev being the UFC’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.
Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) already was No. 1 prior to quickly submitting Renato Moicano in Saturday’s UFC 311 main event. Makhachev accepted to face Moicano on one day’s notice after his original opponent, Arman Tsarukyan, pulled out due to a back injury. His willingness to save the main event convinced UFC CEO Dana White to finally declare him as his No. 1 pound-for-pound over heavyweight champion Jon Jones, but Smith disagrees.
“I still think it’s Jon Jones,” Smith said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “It’s really the body of work over a long period of time. I know that his inactivity is hurting him, though. The amounts of time that he’s ran out there and done it is damaging to the pound-for-pound conversation.
“But he’s gone through three different generations of fighters and has continued to win. It’s tough. And again, Islam has taken a legitimate loss and Jon Jones hasn’t. … I think you take them all and put them in a room, Jon Jones comes out.”
Worried about Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall?
With his finish over Moicano, Makhachev broke the UFC lightweight record for most title defenses at four. Meanwhile, White guaranteed that the title-unification bout between Jones and interim champ Tom Aspinall will happen this year.
But with White changing his tune on Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) as his No. 1 pound-for-pound, could there be problems in their negotiations?
“That made me nervous, too,” Smith said. “Because I felt very, very confident about it when he initially talked about it. He seemed very sure, and you can kind of tell when fights are close to being made when fighters stop talking. We haven’t heard a lot from Tom, we haven’t heard a lot from Jon – and we typically don’t hear a whole lot from Jon, but Tom Aspinall’s been fairly quiet.
“So, I was feeling pretty good about it. Then we’ve seen the switch with Islam. I think that there’s a good chance that he’s just really impressed with the mindset and the moves that Islam made during this fight week, taking the fight on short notice, not having any questions. I’m trying not to look too much into it.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.
