Anthony Smith has spoken about Dan Bilzerian and Donald Cerrone booting his mom and wife from their seats at UFC 235.
Dan Bilzerian, a social media influencer and Donald Cerrone (36-16 MMA), a fan favorite in the lightweight division apparently weren’t very ‘gentlemanly’ at UFC 235.
It was Anthony Smith (36-16 MMA) vs Jon Jones (26-1 MMA) in March of 2019 at UFC 235. The light heavyweight main event clash was to see Jones coming out the victor by way of unanimous decision.
In speaking with Michael Bisping on the ‘Believe You Me’ podcast, Smith had this to say about that night back in 2019 (h/t lowkickmma):
“My mom, my wife, my manager’s mom, and like two other people in my group are sitting front row. I’m in the Octagon, and while this is happening, Jon Jones is making his way to the Octagon. So, Dan Bilzerian and another fighter – it was Donald Cerrone, so they’re together – I feel like a lot of people would read between the lines, but it’s gonna sound like I’m sh*tting on Donald Cerrone too, so.”
“They come and they wanna sit down and watch the fight, but they’re f*cking hammered. Like, just sh*thouse drunk. And so, they tell them (Smith’s group) that those are their seats. My mom doesn’t know Dan Bilzerian or Donald Cerrone – my wife knows who Donald is, but she doesn’t know him – and she doesn’t know who this short, tight shirt, funky-ass hat-wearing jerk is. She just knows that these are her seats and she’s about to watch her son fight for a world title.”
Continuing Anthony Smith shared:
“Dan Bilzerian and Donald Cerrone, removed my mom and my wife from their seats, while I’m getting ready to fight Jon Jones. I was f*cking furious. If I had seen Dan Bilzerian – cause I had found out about it right after I got to the back, and if I had seen him then, I would have f*cking torn his head off, I was so mad.”
“… Then Dan ends up being next to my mom, and then during the fight, is watching porn on his phone. Like, during the fight – he’s sitting there watching porn. And my mom’s super uncomfortable, like she’s not a – she’s weirded out, she’s a quiet lady, real shy. It was just a whole f*cking ordeal.”
Certainly not a good look for either Bilzerian or Cerrone, and obviously upsetting to Anthony Smith, who still recalls it like it took place yesterday.
As for what’s next for Anthony Smith – he’ll enter into the Octagon to face Magomed Ankalaev (17-1 MMA) on July 30th at UFC 277. Smith is aiming to secure a light heavyweight title shot following a record three-straight wins over Ryan Spann (20-7 MMA), Jimmy Crute (12-3 MMA), and Devin Clark (13-6 MMA).