WATCH | Alex Pereira and Anthony Smith squash beef ahead of UFC 307: “I am thankful to you”

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and contender Anthony Smith have officially squashed their beef.

Pereira and Smith have had an ongoing feud over the past year, with ‘Lionheart’ campaigning for a fight against the Brazilian. However, as Alex Pereira headlines UFC 307 against Khalil Rountree, Smith interviewed the champ for ESPN and the two seemingly squashed their beef.

Alex Pereira and Anthony Smith squash the beef 🤝

🎥 @espnmma #UFC #MMA #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/tIYQ2sfejd

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 30, 2024

Smith: “Well thank you for doing this and doing a sit-down with me. Aside from the competitive rivalry with whatever it was before, I have a lot of respect for you. I’m a big fan of your game, I love watching you fight, best of luck here in Salt Lake City and I really appreciate you and your whole team.”

Pereira: “I am thankful to you for reaching out. Ever since you spoke to Glover, I don’t think there is any malice, there’s no bitterness about the back-and-forths that we had. Today, I’m much better, I feel good. Chama.”

It was a cool moment between Anthony Smith and Alex Pereira to squash their beef. The two originally did not get along, but after Smith talked to Glover Teixeira, cooler heads ultimately prevailed.

Anthony Smtih has called for a fight with Alex Pereira

Anthony Smith has previously called for a fight with Alex Pereira.

Smith believes a bout between him and Pereira would be very entertaining that one fans would want to see.

“He’s fun. Him and I have had our words back and forth, I don’t think that there’s any like real beef there but there’s definitely something there with him and I where given the opportunity, we both would jump on it,” Smith said to Submission Radio. “If I can put myself into a position where it’s ‘Oh, holy shit, here we are on a bit of a streak and things are going well’, the timing works out, I think both of us would jump on that opportunity.

“And I don’t know why that is, I don’t if it’s, I don’t know, real recognizes real a little bit,” Smith added. I’m one of the few guys probably that would really step in the fire with him and he knows that. Is Ankalaev going to stand in the pocket and trade with Alex Pereira and really play that game? Probably not, you know that I mean?”

However, a fight between the two seems unlikely after Smith lost his UFC 303 bout to Roman Dolidze.