Anthony Smith is headlining his second straight UFC event at UFC Fight Night Moncton, when Smith battle Volkan Oezdemir in the featured spot.
If there is one thing that Smith firmly believes at the moment, it would be that the UFC is behind him right now with a second straight main event opportunity.
“I was excited, I was excited that I got another main event. I think that means the UFC was happy with how I handled the last one, I was happy with the match up. I really think that this is a good match up for me, obviously…he’s number two in the world. It doesn’t really matter how I feel about the match up, its the number two guy in the world and that’s where I want to be. I was grateful for the match up and just happy to be in another position to keep moving up the ladder,” says Smith in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
Smith’s last main event appearance came at UFC Fight Night Hamburg, where Smith scored a first round knockout win over former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio Rua.
There is one big goal Smith wants to achieve at UFC Fight Night Moncton and that’s to find out who Volkan Oezdemir really is.
“I don’t know…I don’t know, it really depends on Volkan. I truly believe that I can beat him wherever he wants to go, I don’t thinks its a big secret anymore that I don’t really care where that is. I think he’s gonna come out…probably pretty emotional at the beginning because I don’t think he knows how to fight any other way. I think he’s gonna be a bear for the first round, I think I’m gonna spend the first round taking heat off of him for a little bit. That’s just the way that he fights, there’s always the possibility that I catch him in one of these exchanges at the beginning. I would rather that didn’t happen, I would rather get him settled into the fight so we can see who Volkan really is. Its really easy to see the highlights and see him knocking out guys in the first round in just a few minutes time between three guys. I mean he’s knocked out three guys in just a couple of minutes, I’d really like to get him settled in and instead of him exploding and going off. Lets get past that shit and see who he really is, I want to settle in and I want to stand in front of him and lets really play this game. Lets see who the better fighter is, you’ve already proven that you can knock people out quickly…now lets prove you can dominate somebody over a long period of time. I think that’s what its time for now, I think its time to see if that Cormier fight was a fluke or is that’s who Volkan is when he can’t get somebody out of there. That’s what I want to find out, I’m not here to play who’s dick is bigger with Volkan. I think I’m as powerful or more powerful than he is, I got more knockouts than he has fights total. I don’t have anything to prove, but I want to find out who Volkan really is and that’s my whole goal,” says Smith.
UFC Fight Night Moncton takes place on Saturday, October 27 from the Moncton Events Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada with Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.
