Anthony Smith reacts following submission win over Devin Clark, suggests Paul Craig be his next opponent

UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith said that following his tapout win over Devin Clark at UFC Vegas 15, he wants to fight Paul Craig next.

Smith put on a stunning performance on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 15 as he tapped out Clark in the first round with a vicious triangle choke. For Smith, it was a badly-needed win after getting steamrolled by Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic in his last two fights. It was the kind of win that makes people remember why Smith was so highly-ranked in the first place, and although Clark was an unranked fighter, beating him so impressively should result in Smith facing a ranked foe next time out.

Speaking to the media following UFC Vegas 15, Smith reacted to his impressive win over Clark and suggested a fight against the submission ace Craig makes sense next.

Anthony Smith keeping things open on what’s next and said he’s seen something from Paul Craig and thinks that’ll be a fun matchup #UFCVegas15 pic.twitter.com/xSp53uWcHf

— Helen Yee (@HelenYeeSports) November 29, 2020

“I’m kind of open, you know? I know what my last year looked like, I’m not going to get a win over an unranked guy (and call someone out). I did to Devin Clark what I’m supposed to do to Devin Clark. I’m not saying I’m not happy with that win, but if anything other than that happened, we have a problem. So I’m not going to be the guy that says, ‘I want my next opponent.’ If I have to stay down at the bottom of the rankings and keep fighting my way back to fighting those top-five guys, then that’s what I’ll do,” Smith said.

“I think I’d seen something that Paul Craig brought my name up or something. That’s a fun matchup. That’d be a fun grappling matchup with Paul Craig. I love his style. I’ve been listening to his interviews forever. He seems like a cool dude.”

With Craig coming off of back-to-back finishes over Shogun Rua and Gadzhimurad Antigulov as he continues to climb the top-15 at light heavyweight, a fight against the top-10 ranked Smith, who needs to be fighting non-elite fighters right now, seems like a good one. If the UFC ended up booking this fight it would likely be a fun one, too.

Would you like to see Anthony Smith matched up against Paul Craig next?