Anthony Smith 'Absolutely Obsessed' With Jon Jones, Focused on Getting a Rematch

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith has said he’s been obsessing over Jon Jones since their five-round title fight back in March and is focusing all his energy on getting another shot at the champion.

The articulate 205-pounder is a student of the game and admits he’s been analyzing Jones non-stop since his loss, claiming he probably knows Jones better than Jones knows himself (transcript via MMANews.com):

“I have become absolutely obsessed with Jon Jones,” Smith confessed in an interview with Submission Radio. “It’s almost embarrassing how much I have focused on, studied…it’s become an obsession. You know, I’m sitting next to Rashad Evans during the fight, and I’m, like, learning Jon’s mannerisms. I can almost tell you what he’s thinking sometimes. It’s weird.”

Smith said he is focused on getting another fight against Jones but admits that the challenge is whether Jones would accept the rematch, considering how badly he was dominated in their first fight. With the likes of Dominick Reyes, Corey Anderson, Aleksandar Rakic and Johnny Walker injecting much needed competition at 205 pounds, Smith knows his knowledge of Jones is useless unless he can get that title shot again.

“Here’s the problem: what are you gonna do about it? That’s the new problem,” Smith said. “The problem is getting to Jon Jones. That’s the problem. And that’s, honestly, where my focus is, really, mentally. And I’ve been reaching out, and talking to different people, and looking for different ideas.

“And it doesn’t matter how defensively sound I am. It doesn’t matter how many takedowns I defend. It doesn’t matter how much he doesn’t want to engage in jiu-jitsu. If I can’t get to him, I can’t beat him. So that’s kind of where my mindset is, and I don’t give a s--- if he sees it. I’ve said it over, and over, and over again: I’m coming, and there’s no one who’s gonna stop me.”