Anthony Smith claps back at Alex Pereira: “You want a f*****g rival, you got one right here”

Anthony Smith has responded to Alex Pereira.

When it was announced that Pereira would be going up to light heavyweight, Smith said it was a fight he would love to have, but also thought the Brazilian would struggle at 205lbs. That didn’t sit well with Pereira would took to his YouTube channel to take aim at Smith in a lengthy rant.

“This guy is frustrated because I’m already making good money, going for another championship, entering another weight class and all eyes are now on me, and he’s stuck in a rut… The only ones who speak bad about me are Anthony Smith types — washed up [veterans] who never amounted to anything. They’re in a really tight spot or [are] still a nobody,” Pereira said in part of his video.

Now, after Anthony Smith beat Ryan Spann by split decision at UFC Singapore to return to the win column, he responded to Alex Pereira and thinks the Brazilian took his comments the wrong way.

"I've been nothing but complimentary of him and his whole team."

Anthony Smith (@lionheartasmith) responds to Alex Pereira's comments about him.

MMA Today | @RJcliffordMMA @DinThomas pic.twitter.com/D6YX87enFf

— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) August 29, 2023

“So, I’ll be honest, I texted Glover yesterday, and said what in the f*** is this? I was trying to figure out which direction I’m supposed to go here,” Smith said on MMA on Sirius XM. “Did he take something out of context? Is he reading headlines? Or did he actually listen to what I said? Because what I said was, essentially, he’s the same size as everyone else. Like what if, you think if I said Islam is the same size as every other lightweight he’s going to come at me all pissed off about it? No. My whole point was that he moved up to 205, so he’s not gonna enjoy the same size advantage that he did at 185. That’s it, is that crazy? Am I wrong”

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Anthony Smith open to being Alex Pereira’s rival

Although Anthony Smith thinks Alex Pereira took the comment out of context, he isn’t pleased with how the Brazilian responded.

Now, Smith says he is more than ready to be Pereira’s rival and his next opponent if he wants to.

“He’s a special talent when it comes to being a striker in the division, it’s more interesting with him in it,” Anthony Smith continued about Alex Pereira. “I said a bunch of nice s**t about you and you’re gonna talk s**t? I don’t think so, that’s not how this works. We’re gonna just shake hands when we see each other because you’re doing this media thing and you’re looking for a rival? You want a f*****g rival, you got one right here. I didn’t do s**t to him. I’ve been nothing but complimentary to him and his whole team. I like his coaches, I love Glover to death, and a lot of his training partners. I don’t know what I did to that guy.”

As of right now, it does seem like Pereira will face Jiri Prochazka for the light heavyweight title next time out. However, perhaps a matchup with Smith comes to fruition in the near future.