Anthony Smith: ‘I don’t care’ if Jon Jones is clean at UFC 235

Anthony Smith, who is expected to challenge Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 235 on March 2, has some questions about the champion’s recent drug tests, several of which of turned up traces of the banned substance ‘turinabol.’

“I think that the definition of a clean fighter has become mighty grey in the last six months,” Smith said on the latest episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (transcript via MMA Mania). “And it didn’t used to be like that, it was pretty black and white.”

“If you had a banned substance in your body you were dirty and you were cheating. But for whatever reason, that’s not the narrative everyone is going by anymore.”

Whatever the case, Anthony Smith assures that, at this point, nothing will stop him from fighting Jon Jones at UFC 235. Jones could even enter the Octagon with a concealed weapon and Smith would still be willing to fight.

“Honestly, I don’t care,” Smith said. “At this point, I got what I have been working for my entire career and it’s going to take more than Jon Jones’ pee to change my mind. I’m in there, I’m going. It wouldn’t matter what you told me. Right now there is nothing that would stop me from fighting Jon Jones. If you told me he was fighting with a shiv in his jock strap, I’m still going in.”

Since moving to the UFC light heavyweight division in mid 2018, Anthony Smith has gone 3-0, knocking out former champions Rashad Evans and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and defeating former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir by submission. His last loss occurred in February of 2018, when he was stopped in a back-and-forth middleweight scrap with Thiago Santos, who has also found a new life at light heavyweight. Smith is 31-13 overall.

Do you think Anthony Smith can spring the upset on Jon Jones at UFC 235 this March?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/15/2019.