A lot of fans are apparently predicting that Jones will demolish Smith within one round, which is something that has amazed Smith.
“I think it’s goddamn amazing that all these people are assuming that if me and Jon Jones fight, he’s going to get me out of there in one round,” said Smith to MMA Junkie. “He doesn’t hit any harder than (Volkan) Oezdemir and Hector Lombard. He’s not any better of a wrestler, for the most part, of guys that I’ve fought. And he’s not any better a jiu-jitsu guy that all the guys I’ve fought. He puts it together better than anyone that’s in the game right now. But he doesn’t wow me anywhere, especially the fight that he just had.”
Jones is a huge favorite in the early betting odds, but Smith has been an underdog before in past fights.
The challenger also watched Jones’ return bout at UFC 232 and wasn’t very impressed by what he saw on that night.
“I wasn’t impressed,” he said. “And I don’t mean it wasn’t a fantastic performance, because it was. But I didn’t watch the fight and think, I couldn’t handle that. I saw a guy that has holes that can be exploited as long as you attack it in the right way. I also saw a guy that wasn’t nearly as arrogant. Jon’s biggest attribute is his genuine delusion. Jon is genuinely so delusional and so arrogant that he is unbeatable that it works in his favor, and he almost creates the illusion that is. He fights with this complete arrogance and disregard for his opponents. And if he loses that, he loses a lot of his ability.”
UFC 235 takes place on Saturday, March 2 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Jon Jones and Anthony Smith potentially headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
