Anthony Smith uninterested in fighting Jimi Manuwa, suggests teammate Dustin Jacoby “do him dirty”

UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith says he’s uninterested in fighting Jimi Manuwa and suggested that Dustin Jacoby “do him dirty” instead.

Smith is coming off of a great win over Devin Clark at UFC Vegas 15, as he submitted his opponent with a triangle choke in the first round to snap a two-fight losing skid. Smith is No 6. in the UFC light heavyweight rankings so plenty of light heavyweights have been calling him out, including Paul Craig and Jimmy Crute. One other fighter calling Smith out is Jimi Manuwa, who is currently retired. Manuwa has hinted at a comeback and he suggested a fight against Smith would be a good return fight.

According to Smith, however, there’s no interest from his end for a fight against the unranked and retired Manuwa. Speaking to James Lynch of Line Movement, Smith said it would be “silly” of him to fight Manuwa. Instead, he suggested that Jacoby, his teammate at Factory X known for his kickboxing skills, fights Manuwa instead.

https://twitter.com/Line_Movement/status/1333531409290551298

“What is Jimi Manuwa thinking? Jimmy Crute, crazy respectful kid. And really man, I’m a fan of his, I really like his style. It’s kind of the same with Paul Craig. A fairly respectful callout the last time he fought Shogun, and even now, you know, he gave me props on my submission and asked if I wanted to go to Fight Island or something like that,” Smith said.

“But then Jimi Manuwa, every time he says something about me it just sounds so crazy. Like, he’s looked awful in his last four fights and then retired because he wasn’t able to stay conscious the entire time he was fighting. If he wants to come back, that would silly for me to even entertaining that at this point. But, you know, I got some teammates that are at 205lbs too. Could you imagine what Dustin Jacoby would go to Jimi Manuwa? Honestly, I think Dustin would do Jimi Manuwa way more dirty than I would.”

Jacoby is a former GLORY kickboxer who recently made his return to the UFC where he picked up a nasty TKO win over Justin Ledet. Stylistically, a fight between Jacoby and Manuwa, who was also known for his striking skills when he fought, would be a lot of fun. But with Manuwa now being 40 years old and coming off of three knockout losses in his last four fights, both Smith and Jacoby are very dangerous opponents.

Do you like the suggestion from Anthony Smith that Jimi Manuwa fights Dustin Jacoby?