Anthony Smith was left disappointed recently when his next opponent Jamahal Hill was suddenly promoted to fight Glover Teixeira for the vacant light-heavyweight title at UFC 283 in January, but rather than sit and sulk about the situation he has instead offered to help Hill train for the fight.
“It’s not that weird to me,” Smith said at the weekend when asked about helping Hill. “He called me the Sunday as soon as the fight was over. His manager asked me Saturday would I be willing to and then I didn’t actually think Jamahal was gonna ask, (but) he did. We’ve talked several times over the week. I don’t think it’s a secret where Glover has the biggest advantage here. It’s gonna be on the ground.
“Jamahal Hill is fantastic on his feet, he’s dangerous, huge power in his hands. I don’t suspect Glover is gonna be standing with him for very long. So I have a unique experience with Glover. I spent five rounds with him. I’m a high-level blackbelt in jiu-jitsu. I think that I do bring a lot of things to the table that can help Jamahal at least in that facet of the game.”
However, Smith also plans to get himself in fight shape that he could potentially serve as an alternate if either of those fighters has to withdraw ahead of the event.
“I’m going to fly to Brazil,” Smith said on ESPN. “I’m going to weigh in at 205 pounds. I don’t suspect that these guys are gonna have problems, they’re both professionals, but if something does happen, I’ll be there to step in.”
Potentially that could lead to a very odd situation in which he ends up fighting the very man that he’s just helped train, but nonetheless you have to give Smith credit for trying to make the best of a bad situation.
