Nikita Krylov called out Anthony Smith after picking up a unanimous decision win over Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 280 this past weekend, and now ‘Lionheart’ has responded.
“I think it will be great [to fight] with [Anthony] Smith,” Krylov said after his victory in Abu Dhabi. “I think he’s No. 5 in the rankings. I will be really happy if the organization gives me a fight with him. If he can’t or he’s scared, I can fight with anyone, everyone.”
A former light-heavyweight title contender, Smith is currently out of action after suffering blood clot complications following surgery for the broken leg he suffered during a TKO loss to Magomed Ankalaev back in July, but that’s not stopped him from making it known that he would be willing to fight the No.8 ranked Krylov next.
“Scared?” Smith said in response to Krylov’s call-out. “I have a lot of respect for Nikita Krylov. I said several times before that he’s kind of the dark horse in the division. He put [Alexander Gustafsson’s] lights out fast. Like nobody gets rid of Gustafsson like that. I fought him and it took me four rounds to get him out of there. I’ve got a lot of respect for that guy.
“The answer is and always is to everybody in the division — yes. I’m totally down. Maybe March? I’m in.”
