Anthony Smith 'Not Chasing a Win' Against Gustafsson, Is 'Chasing a Performance'

Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight Anthony Smith will headline this Saturday's UFC Stockholm card against hometown favorite Alexander Gustafsson. Both fighters are coming off one-sided losses to current champion Jon Jones, with Gustafsson being finished by Jones in December 2018, and Smith earning a unanimous decision loss in March of this year.

Looking back on his loss to Jones, Smith tells Luke Thomas on "The MMA Hour" that he was never able to perform to his liking and left the cage that night with an uneasy feeling. As such, Smith doesn't feel he gained a whole lot from the experience. In this quick turnaround fight against "The Mauler," Smith is eager to lift that heaviness from his shoulders.

Despite a shorter training camp, and despite his training structure under coach Marc Montoya remaining unchanged, the 30-year-old acknowledges that a key alteration has been made with his mindset.

"I'm not chasing a win. I think that's the difference, I'm not chasing the win at all. I haven't even thought about the fight in a win versus loss situation, or what this does for title contention, or where this puts me in the rankings. Hasn't even crossed my mind."

"Lionheart" (31-14) elaborates further to say that, "I'm chasing a performance. That's all I want. To be honest with you I don't give a f--- what happens in the fight. I wanna perform, and that's it. I wanna hit him as many times as I possibly can. I wanna punch what I can punch, I wanna kick what I can kick, and if he gets too close I'll drag him to the f---ing ground and if he gets up I'll do it again. That's all I wanna do. I just wanna perform. That's it. That's as far as my mind has gone."

UFC Stockholm kicks off from the Ericsson Globe on Saturday, June 1, and also features a co-main event bout between fellow light heavyweights Volkan Oezdemir and Ilir Latifi.