Morning Report: Anthony Smith says UFC 303 win “sets up” title fight with Alex Pereira

Both Anthony Smith and Alex Pereira will step up to save UFC 303 next Saturday night.

Unfortunately, Conor McGregor's planned return to the Octagon next week at International Fight Week 2024 will not happen. Due to injury, “The Notorious” will not be able to compete in his usual main event, this time against Michael Chandler. Instead, UFC 303 will be headlined by a title fight, with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira rematching Jiri Prochazka, who he defeated to win the title at UFC 295 last November.

At UFC 303, a light heavyweight contenders' matchup also went down, pitting former champion Jamahal Hill against rising striker Khalil Rountree, who was replaced by Carlos Ulberg after testing positive for a banned substance. Hill then got injured, and the aforementioned Smith was called into fight camp to take his place.

Smith and Pereira have exchanged competitive words in recent years, with Smith's podcast co-host Michael Bisping hinting at the possibility of a title fight occurring if both men win at UFC 303.

“I haven't really thought about it, I'm just worried about Carlos Ulberg,” Smith said. I believe in you“He's a tough opponent. He's really good at what he does. He's young, hungry and has a big opportunity in front of him. When they fight me, they have to remember that I'm their world title fight and they're trying to make a name for themselves off of me. I have to make sure that doesn't happen.”

“If we promote Alex Pereira right after that, it will work.”

Smith has only challenged for the UFC title once, facing Jon Jones at UFC 235 in March 2019. Jones won by unanimous decision, and “Lionheart” has become a fixture in the 205-pound division ever since.

Since then, Pereira has competed in the UFC and has dominated the organization, winning two titles at middleweight and light heavyweight. Smith was full of praise for “Poitan,” despite the suddenness of the move coming after Pereira broke his toe in his first-round knockout win over Hill at UFC 300 in April.

“It's crazy what he's doing,” Smith says. “I can't believe he's on tour in Australia, hanging out, healing his toe, and then he's like, 'Two weeks? Yeah, let's do it' (laughs). Okay, that's cool.”

“I think it was very matchup specific. [why he took this fight]For example, he probably would not have fought Magomed. [Ankalaev] Or, and I'm not trying to overplay myself, but it's probably different than me just because the skill set is different. He's already trained for Giri once, so he knows him well. There's no stress or shock or awe of the unknown, so he already knows what he's getting into.”

The fight against Ulberg will mark Smith's 58th professional fight (38-19). The veteran recently bounced back from a loss to Rountree, defeating previously unbeaten (11-0) Vitor Petrino via first-round guillotine at UFC 301 in May.

Smith still wants to savor the challenge of a UFC title and a matchup with Pereira, but he knows he can't ignore Ulberg.

“He's similar to 'Izzy' (Israel Adesanya) in a lot of ways,” Smith said. “The way they defend, they lean back, they're both really good at countering, but I think I'm going to make this a full MMA fight and make him worry about the wrestling, the clinch, the grappling, and I'm up to it. We can fight anywhere, and I'm going to make him do that. I'm not sure he'll last more than 15 minutes in the first round. I think he's really, really tough, will defend takedowns well and manage the distance well. If we keep whittling him down, I think we can get him out of there, and I have a really good feeling about it.”

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What a perfect morning. MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to the announcement of Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.

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Sound and pound.

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What a perfect morning. MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to the announcement of Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.

Go on Twitter and use the #MorningReport hashtag or find any of my tweets with this hashtag and send me the jams you're really into right now and I'll pick the best one along with my daily jam and give you a shout out. You can also share in the comments below, which can be hard to sift through sometimes.

I'm keeping busy.

It's quite a match.

boring.

interesting.

Journey through Tokiwa.

check-in.

Just resting'.

Should I give him a chance?

This one is totally random, but too funny not to share.

Ice cold.

response.

Imagine it, believe it…

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Jared Brooks (20-3) vs. Gustavo Balart (12-4); ONE Fight Night 24, August 3

Jay Herbert (12-5-1) vs. Rolando Bedoya (14-3); UFC Abu Dhabi, August 3

Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0) vs. Alexandre Chabry (24-3); Bellator San Diego, September 7

I don't remember if I said this on MR last week, but the idea of ​​Smith beating Ankalaev and getting a title shot is completely ridiculous. But if he wins, it's very, very likely. Just go away Ankalaev. There's not much hope, big dog.

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