{"id":353664,"date":"2020-06-19T08:52:07","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T15:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=353664"},"modified":"2020-06-19T08:52:07","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T15:52:07","slug":"anthony-smith-booked-to-return-against-aleksandar-rakic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/anthony-smith-booked-to-return-against-aleksandar-rakic\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Smith booked to return against Aleksandar Rakic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith is set to return to the cage opposite Austria’s Aleksandar Rakic.<\/p>\n

The pair are scheduled to meet on a UFC Fight Night card on August 29. News of this bout was first reported by MMA Play 365<\/a> and confirmed by MMA Junkie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anthony Smith, who came up short in a light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones in 2019, last fought on May 13, when he was pummelled to a fifth-round stoppage by a fellow former title challenger in Glover Teixeira.<\/p>\n

The bout left Smith with multiple injuries, including missing teeth, and generated much controversy, as many viewers felt it should have been stopped by sooner.<\/p>\n

Smith, however, was glad to be given every opportunity to turn things around, and even suggested he’d fired<\/a> his cornermen if they’d forced a stoppage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel bad because they\u2019re in a tough spot,” Smith told ESPN <\/a>after the fight. “I don\u2019t know if they wanted to stop it or if they thought about it. But, I take that option away from them. Before any of this ever happened, before anything, I took that option away a long time ago. If you want to sit in my corner, that\u2019s my rule. You don\u2019t stop the fight. Leave it in my hands. Don\u2019t take it out of my hands. So, I\u2019ve told them before, if you stop the fight, if you throw the towel in, you can go ahead and walk back to the locker room by yourself because I\u2019ll never stand by you again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t need liabilities in my corner,” Smith added. “The way that I fight, I end up in shitty spots sometimes. And that\u2019s just how it goes. Most of the time, I\u2019ve been able to come back and win. And sometimes, you can\u2019t. Sometimes you just run out of time, and sometimes it\u2019s just too high of a hill to climb. But, I don\u2019t need those liabilities. I don\u2019t need to be getting to bad spots, working my ass off to try to get to a better position, and constantly have in the back of my head worrying that my corners gonna step in and not give me the opportunity”<\/p>\n

Smith, 31, will look to bounce back from this tough loss with a 33-15-0 professional record.<\/p>\n

Aleksandar Rakic, on the other hand, will enter his fight with Smith with a 12-2-0 overall record. The Austrian talent last fought in December, 2019, when he lost a razor close decision to former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. Prior to that loss, Rakic was riding high on a pair of highlight reel knockout wins over Devin Clark and Jimi Manuwa.<\/p>\n

Who do you think will come out on top when Anthony Smith and Aleksandar Rakic collide this August?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith is set to return to the cage opposite Austria’s Aleksandar Rakic. The pair are scheduled to meet on a UFC Fight Night card on August 29. News of this bout was first reported by MMA Play 365 and confirmed by MMA Junkie. Anthony Smith, who came up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":304241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[44600,39522,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnthony Smith booked to return against Aleksandar Rakic | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith is set to return to the cage opposite Austria's Aleksandar Rakic.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/anthony-smith-booked-to-return-against-aleksandar-rakic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anthony Smith booked to return against 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