UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith is no great fan of Luke Rockhold, but he’s willing to admit that Rockhold is the real deal. On Michael Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast, Smith backed the former middleweight champion, who will return to the Octagon this weekend after three years away, to defeat opponent Paulo Costa, a top-ranked middleweight.
“I think I’m going to pick Rockhold. I think that Rockhold has some similarities to some of the things that Adesanya does. They’re both very kick heavy, they’re not huge boxers as far as the striking goes. I think that Paulo freezes a little bit when he gets big kickers in front of him. He does really well in the boxing range but not so well in the kicking range.
Anthony Smith: Rockhold Beats Costa if he “decides to check his f****** ego for one time in his life”
So I think there’s that and I think that if Rockhold decides to check his f****** ego for one time in his life, just one time, shoot a f****** takedown, like a real one. Shoot an actual f****** takedown and you will finish people. Not everybody.
He had a tough time with Jan Blachowicz, Blachowicz has got pretty good takedown defense and he’s significantly bigger. But shoot a god damn takedown for once in your life and get on top of somebody and get a finish or whatever.”
Smith continued, citing Rockhold going through “some sh*t” as one reason the former champion might be able to pull off a victory against a ranked fighter after three years away.
I think if he can do that, and I hear some things a little bit different from Luke, recently. It seems like he’s kind of gone through some s*** and it’s seemingly maybe humbled him a little bit.
It if even humbled him 10 percent, enough to get him down to shoot a takedown and show off his top game, stay safe on the outside, tuck your chin, keep your f****** hands up, that 10 percent ego check needs to mean bring these f****** things to your face and protect yourself, I truly believe Luke Rockhold has more than enough skills and abilities to beat Paulo Costa. If he hasn’t gotten old in the last three years.”
Anthony Smith also pointed out that Rockhold’s defense will need to be rock-solid. “I don’t think it’s a chin thing.
It’s not his ability to absorb damage, it’s his bad defense. He has terrible punch defense. It’s just bad. His hands are low, his chin is up, his legs are wide. There’s nothing in his stance or the way that he fights that is cohesive for absorbing punches.
Nothing he does. Chin up, hands down, stance wide, feet flat. That doesn’t work. All of that is wrong. And that’s what I mean. If he hasn’t changed that, it’s tough. If he hasn’t humbled himself enough to say, ‘I’ve got to fix that.’”
What’s your prediction for Rockhold vs Costa? Let us know in the comments.
