Anthony Smith reacts to his “crazy” underdog status against Magomed Ankalaev: “If I was fighting goddamn Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou at the same time, I shouldn’t be a f**king +350”

Anthony Smith is reacting to his ‘crazy’ underdog status against Magomed Ankalaev.

It will be Smith (36-16 MMA) vs Ankalaev (17-1 MMA) at UFC 277 on July 30th, 2022 in a light heavyweight bout.

Smith will enter the Octagon with 3 wins in a row against Ryan Spann (20-7 MMA), Jimmy Crute (12-3 MMA) and Devin Clark (13-6 MMA).

Ankalaev will enter the cage with 8 wins to his credit, the latest being against Thiago Santos (22-10 MMA) in March of this year. Ankalaev’s only career loss was during his UFC debut against Paul Craig (16-4 MMA) in March of 2018.

In speaking with ‘The Schmo’, ‘Lionheart’, acknowledged that while he’s no stranger to being an underdog, the odds going into his upcoming UFC 277 fight are ‘criminal’. Smith, 33, went on to claim he shouldn’t be such a massive underdog even if he was fighting both Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou at the same time (h/t Sportskeeda):

“+350? That’s crazy, that’s criminal. If I was fighting goddamn Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou at the same time, I shouldn’t be a f**king +350. That’s crazy!”

Magomed Ankalaev, 30, is currently the No. 4 ranked contender while Anthony Smith is ranked No. 5.

UFC President Dana White, speaking on ‘The Spinnin Backfist MMA Show’, when asked if the bout between Ankalaev and Smith would determine the next challenger for the 205 lbs title, said:

“Yeah, yeah, it would be!”

Will you be watching Ankalaev vs Smith? Do you agree that Smith’s underdog status is ‘criminal’?

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