E. Spencer Kyte of UFC.com<\/a>, Rakic spoke about the matchup with Smith. The Austrian said that intends on making Smith “pay” because he had to spend the last two months away from his family putting in hard sparring at American Top Team Zagreb.<\/p>\n\u201cThis fight is the biggest fight of my career and the most important fight for me. I wasn\u2019t with my family for almost two months. I went through hell in Zagreb and someone needs to pay for that and it\u2019s going to be Anthony Smith. I need to make a statement and I will make a statement on Saturday,” Rakic said.<\/p>\n
Rakic said that he respects Smith as an opponent, but he intends of taking out his frustrations on him after enduring a tough training camp for this fight in Croatia.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnthony is an experienced guy. He fought five rounds against Jon (Jones) and has fought many former champions \u2014 Rashad (Evans), Shogun (Rua)\u2014 and he\u2019s a good opponent at this time for me,” Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has the lion heart, like his nickname, he\u2019s mentally very strong and he can take a beating, plus he can also bring it and finish people. But I\u2019m the most explosive guy in the division \u2014 that\u2019s why they call me \u2018Rocket\u2019 \u2014 and I\u2019m going to show that on Saturday night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who do you think wins, Aleksandar Rakic or Anthony Smith?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UFC light heavyweight contender Aleksandar Rakic intends on making Anthony Smith “pay” for what he says was a brutal training camp. Rakic takes on Smith in the main event of this Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 33 event. Oddsmakers have instilled Rakic as a hefty betting favorite entering the fight. Prior to dropping a narrow split […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54474,"featured_media":359765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[44600,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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