“Are we going to gloss over the fact that Luke Rockhold is an asshole?” Anthony Smith asked Luke Thomas on The Luke Thomas Show. “First of all, I don’t know Luke Rockhold. Other than weighing in on one card that we fought on at the same time, I don’t even know if I’ve ever been in a room with him at the same time. I’ve never said one word, good or bad about him. And for whatever reason, you know, he is so… God, he’s just such an asshole. Like I don’t know what the hell I did to that guy, first of all.
“Second of all, if you really look around… The people who are saying Jon Jones is gonna do this to me, he’s gonna do that… You know who’s not saying that? My peers and other fighters in the UFC. It’s one thing for the fans to ride the wave of whoever they’re a fan of or whatever. But for the most part, I think that my peers and other fighters in the UFC can appreciate the struggle and the journey that I’ve been on. And appreciate the fact that I’ve been in this game for a long time and I’ve worked my goddamn ass off to get to where I’m at. And I deserve it. I’m not being given something that I don’t deserve.
“For Luke to come and start talking about me, first of all, you’ve been knocked out two of your last three times. Yoel Romero almost f*cking decapitated him. He’s coming off a loss, a devastating loss, and he can’t even make it to his next fight,” Smith added.
“So who is he to talk about anybody else in the UFC? He’s the most arrogant prick I’ve ever seen or heard speak in my life. And I’ve never done anything to that dude. I’ve literally never even literally shook his hand. I just don’t know where his sense of arrogance comes from. I fought four times in 13 months or something, got three bonuses. What are you doing? You’re not doing sh*t. You’re sitting on the sidelines, limping around.
“I don’t understand how you can just disparage someone so bad that, number one, has done nothing to you, and number two, is widely regarded as one of the hardest-working and most devoted guys in the sport,” Anthony Smith said. “I’ve never attacked him, I just don’t get it. I will fight that guy anywhere. I will fight him in aisle five of Walmart.”
Despite not knowing Luke Rockhold, it’s safe to say that Anthony Smith isn’t his biggest fan.
After hearing the announcement that Smith would be the next light heavyweight title challenger for Jon Jones at UFC 235, Rockhold was not all too impressed as he wrote Smith off in the upcoming matchup.
Rockhold, as mentioned by Smith, has not fought since February 2018 when he suffered a third-round knockout loss to Yoel Romero in Australia. Rockhold has since been scheduled to rematch Chris Weidman at UFC 230 but was forced out of the bout due to an injury.
Since Rockhold vs Romero, Anthony Smith has looked better than ever and won three straight bouts at light heavyweight to earn his title shot. All wins came via finish (two knockouts, one submission).
UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier feels the unorthodox start times at UFC 304 should be a significant part of fight camps for those competing on the card.
